Avatar: Next Generation
by LostWithoutCause
Summary: AU Post-Korra When the balance is shifted with the disappearance of the Avatar, a new age of technology and power emerges. In a modern world much like our own, benders and non-benders alike must adapt to a new way of life. Whether they like it or not. Times have changed and so have the rules. Order must be restored. A new Avatar has been found. But he can't triumph on his own.
1. Prologue: The Fall of Korra

**Written in collaboration with a buddy of mine. You can find her as Mexlla88 on Wattpad. Keep in mind that this didn't start out as a story. It was originally a roleplay. Enjoy!**

When the Avatar's bending was taken away, the Equalists took no time taking advantage of this opportunity. Korra was captured and taken hostage as Amon started his ascent to power. No one knew what happened, all the people know was that Korra was never seen again. With the Avatar out of commission, benders were soon overpowered. A census was created to keep track of anyone with bending ability. With this new system came new laws. Bending was not allowed to be used in public. Anyone caught displaying this power was fined, arrested, got their bending taken away completely or even killed depending on the severity of the crime. Some were rumored to receive more than one. There was zero tolerance to benders who were not registered. These people who were discovered were immediately silenced.

Decades passed and bending was still outlawed. No new Avatar had emerged, and it seemed as though all hope was lost. A special task force of carefully selected benders had been created to help deal with the outlawed benders. Times had changed. In a new technological era, bending had become obsolete. However, there were still those who fought back. Calling themselves STAR(Strategic Troop of Adept Rebels), the united benders and supporters created an organization of agents to eventually rise up against the government.

Agents were of all ranges. From infants to seniors, highly trained agents were made from this society. All trained in fighting and bending skills, as well as optional spec op training for especially dedicated members, these soldiers would lead raids, rebellions, and cause uprisings just to gain attention. However, because of their limited numbers (caused by the casualties of the uprisings), STAR had been unsuccessful in fully bringing back legality to bending. They were missing a vital piece of the game. They were missing the Avatar.

What people didn't know was that Korra had been kept in a stasis. Cryogenics were used to preserve the Avatar in a near-death state so that the cycle would not continue. However, one day, an intruder had managed their way into the holding facility. They found a way to free the Avatar, however, her time was over. Just then, the intruder was captured and Korra spent the last of her strength freeing her rescuer.

Now fifty years since the Avatar's original disappearance, a new Avatar has been discovered. By both sides. STAR and the government, now led by a descendant of Amon himself, have found the Avatar. However, the young Avatar is unaware of his role and even his bending ability. The race is on to get to the Avatar. The fate of bending is once again on the shoulders of a young bender. But which side will he be on?


	2. 1 New Mission, New Partner

"Director Carlisle. You sent for me." Nathan walked into the underground office. It was the lowest room in the base.

"Yes. I've called you, Nate, because we have reason to believe that the Avatar has been found by the government. As you know, we've been monitoring him for years now and the boy's parents are already on board. Our original plan of waiting until he was twenty-one is going to have to be scratched. If he has been found out, we have to move him here. His family already knows the procedure for such an event. I have assigned you and the newer agent, Mella Camyra. She should be here shortly." the director stated. In the past Avatars were told of their status around 16. STAR decided to wait, given the circumstances in the times.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "I understand the meeting sir, but a simple retrieval mission like this? I can do this on my own." The young man was confident in himself. Besides, all he had to do was go and grab a kid. The Avatar didn't know of his bending and especially not that he was the Avatar at all. He was eighteen if he recalled correctly, so he was old enough to know this was important.

"It's not up for debate. I'm assigning her because I feel this will be a good experience for the girl. Besides, you know procedure. Whether you like it or not, any mission of this importance requires two or more agents. I can always send Cameron along?" the man stated with a completely straight face.

The STAR agent winced slightly at the mention of his younger and egotistical cousin. Though he could be described as arrogant himself, Cameron was much more irritating. On the other hand, Cameron did have experience the girl lacked... "That won't be necessary, sir." he regained his composure.

* * *

His partner, on the other hand, was still asleep, even at three in the afternoon. The base was mostly underground, and agents were up at all hours of day. It didn't matter when you couldn't see the sun. Three in the afternoon was seven in the morning for the new agent.

Mella woke up to a knock and found a note had been slipped under the door to her room. _What? I have a mission? Cool._ She hadn't expected a mission so soon after joining STAR. Director Carlisle had told her the first six months or so were just training. Mella got up and grabbed the note. She was to meet up with Director Carlisle and Nathan Price...right now. _Of course it had to be right now, it would be too easy for it to be later so I could sleep some more..._ Mella hurried and got dressed and took the stairs down to the office, not wanting to wait for the elevator and keep the director waiting.

She had heard of Nathan after being with STAR for a couple days. He came off as a nice guy when she saw him around the halls, but wasn't going to judge until she knew for sure. Years at the orphanage and of thinking kids were nice when they really weren't had taught her better than that.

She finally reached the office, tired and out of breath. She knocked on the door. "Director Carlisle?"

"Yes. Come in. I was just briefing Nathan on your assignment." The man motioned for her to enter. Mella walked in. "Mella Camyra, reporting, sir." _Reporting, yes. Awake, not really…_

Nathan nodded and offered a hand, "Nathan Price. I'm your new partner."

Mella shook Nathan's hand. "Hi, I'm Mella." She turned back to Director Carlisle as he explained the assignment.

"I assume you've heard the legend of the Avatar? A bender who can master all four elements and keep balance in the world? The Avatar had been missing for years after the battle in what used to be Republic City. Eighteen years ago one of our founding members had gained entrance to the government's holding facilities. He had located the Avatar Korra and released her. However, the Avatar State was not enough to save her and while our agent had escaped with his life, the Avatar had used her remaining strength to ensure his safety.

"Ten years ago STAR located the new Avatar. He had been found in this city and we became the main base for the foundation to ensure the Avatar's training and safety. We were instructed to wait until he was twenty-one to avoid the conflicts of the previous incarnations. But due to recent events, that plan will not be carried out. Just this morning, we were informed that the government may have identified the Avatar. He and his family will be moved to a safe location where they will maintain a cover story. The Avatar will be brought here to begin training. If the government has found him, then they will begin to crack down on benders harder than ever before. If we're going to start a rebellion, we have to start now."

"I've heard of the Avatar and benders, but only in books...They didn't say anything about Avatar Korra though...It stopped after talking about how Avatar Aang defeated the fire lord. They weren't exactly up-to-date..." Mella fell silent. She was rambling. So the rumors she had heard when she arrived here were true, the last Avatar was dead. And she was thinking she might be able to meet Korra...well, she couldn't focus on that anymore. The new Avatar needed their attention.

Carlisle looked between the two young agents. "Are you ready?"

Mella looked Nathan straight in the face, hoping her violet eyes didn't freak him out, as they did with most people. She turned back to the director.

"We're ready."

Director Carlisle smiled, "Good. I'll see you when you get back." And so it began.


	3. 2 One's Past, Another's Car

As Nathan started out the door, he waited for Mella to exit before shutting the door behind them.

"Been to the garage yet?" he asked her, walking briskly down the corridor. He had been in a training exercise prior to being summoned and had been dressed in full STAR uniform. A mission like this probably wouldn't be the best choice for STAR Class A's. He would have to change before they left. Living on base, he wouldn't have far to go to get changed.

"No...they really had me focusing on my water bending." It was true. Showing up in the middle of a thunderstorm had thrown the guards off that night, but they realized Mella must have been some kind of bender. A bunch of tests later had proved what they thought, and they told her she was a waterbender. For once, she felt like she really had a purpose. Hiding in a library just to stay away from the taunting children didn't count on any level. "I haven't been here long enough to explore everywhere yet."

"No problem. I'll show you where it is. I just need to get changed into something that won't draw so much attention and we can head over at the same time." he came to the elevator and called the lift.

"What kind of bender are you?" Mella asked. _It probably said on that note...but I ran after it said the meeting was now…_

"I'm an air bender. Me and my cousin. Haven't met any others yet but coming from one family, its expected. You can follow me to my place or wait in the commons. Up to you." he said, stepping onto the platform.

"Um...I'll just wait for you over at the commons." Thankfully she knew where that was, but besides that, the cafe, the director's office and her room, she was totally lost. Mella thought back to one of the first days she was at the STAR base. She had no clue where to go, and even after countless people had shown her dozens of times, she was still lost. This place was way bigger than she could have ever imagined. "I'm taking the stairs. See you in a bit."

"Oh. Okay." he said as the doors shut and the girl took to the stairs.

Mella had ran back over to the stairs and started heading up, silently berating herself. It was just an elevator...she wasn't trapped...but her claustrophobia won out, like it usually did._ I really need to get over that..._

Mella wondered about her own family, if it even existed. The couple running the orphanage told her the only thing they knew about her was a name, a birthday, and a necklace, the same necklace she was wearing. As much as they searched, Mella included, they couldn't find anything._ I couldn't have come from nowhere...so where are they?_ Mella pulled open the door to the commons and plopped down on a chair near a picture window to wait for Nathan to show up.

* * *

The lift started and Nathan waited. His mind was on how he was going to break the news to this guy. He supposed that was one of the reasons Carlisle put Mella on the case. He wasn't the strongest in 'Human Relations.' Even he could see that. But Nathan didn't mind. It wasn't like it disabled him.

Finally Nathan came to his floor and he was in another long corridor. He walked down the hallway until he reached a door somewhere in the middle. He let himself in and started changing. The room was shared with his cousin, who was currently on assignment out of town. So naturally the room was clean. Nate was no neat freak by any means, but he tried to be able to see the floor.

It didn't take him long to change into a green plaid button down over a grey shirt and to throw on some dark blue jeans and a pair of canvas shoes. He mussed up his hair from the required gelled slick look to a more casual style. Soon enough Nate came out of the elevator into the commons to look for Mella in the crowds. Finally he spotted her. "Ready?"

Mella got up from the chair she was sitting in, hearing Nathan's voice behind her._ Wow...he managed to find me, I'll give him points for that._ It took a lot to find Mella in a crowd, or even when she was on her own, something she learned from her past. "Yeah...let's go. Lead the way." Mella followed Nathan out of the commons.

As much as Nathan would like to credit ultra cool spy recon skills, the only reason he was able to pick Mella out was because he knew most of the people in the commons. "Great. Right this way." he said, making his way through various hallways until they reached a large parking garage. His direction changed as he went to the stairwell. "Not far now" his voice echoed in the white-walled stairway.

She started memorizing where they were going as soon as they left the commons._ I've gotta know where I'm going on my own eventually…_ Mella thought to herself. Hopefully she would be able to keep track of everything this time. The hallways and floors all looked so similar to each other, it had gotten confusing really fast.

When they exited the stairwell, the duo stepped into a different kind of room. It was still a parking garage, but they were private garages. "This is where agents who live on base keep their cars. Cool perk, but if you want your own little parking thing, you have to know your car pretty well. We have to do our own mechanic work. And if you don't do cars, well, good luck finding a close spot down stairs." he explained pulling out a small remote control. He clicked a button and one of the steel doors opened a few doors down. The inside was like a car shop. Tools laid on tables and the ground, with more equipment lacing the walls. But in the middle of it all, a black muscle car sat motionless in the white lights.

"Here we are."

_What is it with boys and cars?_ Unfortunately, Mella didn't know squat about cars. She had never needed to learn how to drive, let alone how to fix one. But she did know that Nathan's car was fast, just by looking at it. Mella whistled softly. "Nice ride."

Nathan subconsciously put on a prideful smile and stepped into the vehicle. "Thanks. I helped design her. One of a kind prototype. Me and a couple other guys started a build team to modify everyday cars. When the run-of-the-mill sedans wouldn't take to the upgrades, we had to kick it up a notch to something that already had quite a bit of power. This was our prototype. We would have made more if STAR would have kept the funding, but someone up the ranks didn't see the need. Since there were three of us, we had to decide on who would keep it. Hank, our leading builder, already had about four cars at his house. He lives off base and has a family. So he was out. It was between Rob and myself. He proposed that we have a series of competitions to see who would get the car. I agreed. I even let him pick out which training courses we'd use. Long story short, I won the car." the story was nowhere near short but if there was one thing Nathan loved, it was talking about this car. It was his pride and joy.

Mella smiled as she stepped into the car. His face lit up when he was talking about his car. It didn't matter who you were or where you lived. When boys talked about cars, it was like they were human, and there was always a story to go with it. Nathan Price was no exception.

Nathan only then realized how long he was talking. They were already halfway out if the parking garage. Mella looked out the window. She hadn't really gotten to look around her first night in the bender country. The Equalists' Enforcers were on patrol where she entered the city, and she spent the day hiding and running from them. The rain that came as the sun went down had made matters even worse, and Mella was glad she had managed to find STAR before the night ended. "So, where exactly are we going?" Mella finally asked. "Besides to pick up the Avatar."

"Um, let's see..." Nathan picked up a piece of paper with the information on the Avatar. "Joshua Anthony Drake. 8324 Geronimo Court. If I remember correctly, it's a quiet little residential area. You know, perfectly manicured hedges, green lawns, white picket fences, the works. Nothing too fancy, but it's nice. Normal." His eyes flickered from the page to the driveway as they spiraled up to ground level. Mella thought 'normal' was highly overrated. Finally, they emerged from a hidden panel. STAR had tunnels leading out all over the city. But certain tunnels were only open during certain parts of the day to avoid attracting attention.

The dry grass moved back to reveal the tunnel which the black car was now jetting out of. The wooden panels of the fence opened as well to allow the vehicle to pass through. "We're about 10 minutes from town. STAR uses the old smuggling tunnels to get to and from the city. But we gave them some upgrades." he explained as they drove through the foothill highway.

"Nice...so no one suspects anything...that's cool." Mella looked out of the window as they headed towards the Avatar's views were pretty. Mella's thoughts went back to the idea of normal. Her life had been anything but normal, with everything that had happened in the orphanage. She shook her head slightly, driving those thoughts away. She was happier now than she had ever been at that place. Mella tried keeping her face blank as the past tried to sneak back up on her, but she was failing spectacularly, judging by what the side mirror was reflecting back. She hoped Nathan wouldn't notice, or ask about it.

As Nathan drove, his eyes seemed focused on the road. His gaze just barely caught a glimpse of the side mirror. His mission partner did not look like a happy camper. "Hey, everything alright?" he asked her. Nothing like just realizing for the first time he was sitting in the car with a kid who was pretty much a complete stranger to him. But hey, he was concentrating on the mission. And it wasn't like they had much time earlier to talk about anything. Then he was going on about his car. He really knew nothing about this person. Which was awkward. Especially because she had that mask on. While not a literal mask, it was that expression that tried to hide whatever it was that bothered you. Nate knew it well. Difference? He had lots of practice hiding it.

"Hm? Oh...yeah...I was just remembering...stuff." Mella said abruptly. She didn't talk about her past. No one knew, except the director. And it wasn't need-to-know information either. Mella had never really hung out with other people, so it never came up. A sob story about her family and painful memories would be a really conversation killer anyways. "It's nothing..." Nathan looked like he was about to ask more. "Look, it's not something I like talking about. I'll tell you if and when I want to, okay? So, how are we going to end up telling him? I'm pretty sure we can't go up to him and just say, 'Hey you're the Avatar, and you gotta come with us.' "

_Stuff? What kind of stuff?_ Nathan raised an eyebrow but let it be. She would tell him when she was ready. If she ever decided to. Mission partners switched out so often. He might have had one or two more after this before he got someone else. But it wasn't rare to see old partners around base. Nate just wasn't sure if Mella would ever be around long enough to want him to know. "That's fine. It's your business." he responded. Mella was mildly surprised. Usually people bugged her about what she was hiding until she couldn't stand being around them anymore.

_Nathan is a nice guy..._ Mella realized before he started speaking again. Nathan thought a little bit before answering the question. "Well, his folks already know. But they don't know we're coming. At this point we don't have much choice. All we can do is tell him. It's like a band-aid. All at once and fast. He can either get used to it or get over it. Either way he's going to have to accept who he is and what he's meant to do."

That seemed a little harsh to Mella, but Nathan had a point. "Yeah...it can't be any worse than how it was with me, though, right? 'Cause I pretty much freaked out a bunch of guards by showing up one night and they told me i was a waterbender."

"That was you? Ha, we had a red alert going because of that. They were getting ready to put the defenses before Carlisle called them off." he mused. "But, uh, you'd be surprised at some of the reactions we have to face." That night had been full of angry officers who had been pulled from off-duty sleep hours for a false alarm. Nathan himself had been on an assignment in the mountains with his cousin at the time. They were pulling overnight surveillance and hadn't heard about it until they got back. Worst camping trip ever. Only being stuck with that blonde egomaniac could ruin the serenity of a stake out.

Mella felt her face turn red. "Oops...sorry."

"It's alright. I was out of town. I'm sure they all got over it." he chuckled slightly.

The car turned in towards a residential area. Mella craned her neck to get a better view, and a glimpse of the house number. "Hey, is that the place?" Mella pointed out the window.

"Yeah, that's the one." Nate pulled up to the curb. He checked his watch, 5:17. If this went as planned, they'd be back in time for dinner. He took the keys from the ignition and stepped out of the car. "Here we go."


	4. 3 The Avatar

Mella stepped out of the car with Nathan, looking towards a nice looking, normal house. To think the Avatar was living there threw Mella off a little bit. "Let's do this." Nathan walked to the front door and knocked on it. Mella followed behind him.

They were waiting outside for about two minutes before a man opened the door. Nate assumed this was Josh's father, judging by his age. The man had slightly greying black hair and wrinkles starting to be evident on his face. He was probably in his late 40's. "Mr. Drake? My name is Nathan Price. This is my partner, Mella Camyra. We're from STAR about your son, Joshua." Nathan stated plainly. Mella just stayed silent while Nathan made the introductions.

"Have something to prove it?" James Drake was on guard. Good man.

A small smirk crept its way to Nathan's mouth. This was just as they instructed him to do. Nate produced his wallet from his pocket and pulled out a library card. Or, at least something that looked like one at first glance. The agent also pulled out a gift card to some sort of french restaurant. But when he put the two together, the library card changed to an ID with all of his ranking and identification for STAR. He glanced at Mella. "Key activation. Makes it nearly impossible for the Enforcers to track us down. Also great for getting behind locked doors. Kind of a universal key when it's activated." Mella nodded. She wasn't completely sure she had one of those cards. That's what happened when Mella was rushed: she forgot things. Nathan looked back to the father. "Thank you very much, Mr. Drake."

"Come in." Nathan knew that Mr. Drake knew what was coming. He could see it in his eyes. "Mary. We have company." the man called. A woman with light blonde hair walked in. She was the opposite of the thickly built James. She was petite and thin. But definitely not frail. Mr. Drake sent her a solemn look and a slight nod and the woman's positive outlook disappeared.

"It's not time yet. We still have four years!" her eyes were frantic. But her voice was kept low.

"Mrs. Drake...we thought we had four more years too. But we think that the government might have found out about your son now. It's for his own safety..." Mella turned to Nathan, and gave him a look that said everything: _Where is the Avatar?_

Nathan looked back at Mella and nodded. His eyes went back to the family. "We are...truly sorry. But it's out of our power. Like my partner said, it's for safety purposes." He paused briefly. "Where is th-I mean, where's Joshua now?"

"He's right here." another voice came from the hallway. The unhappy teenager crossed his arms. Nate and Josh's parents turned to face him. Mella turned to see Joshua as well. He was ticked off, she could tell. He had every right though. From the look on his face, he had been listening the entire time, and wasn't cool with it. "What's going on? Mom? Dad? Who are these two? And what about safety?" he asked. Grey eyes flashed to each person looking for answers.

Well that was not how he imagined this, but Nathan spoke up. "In a nutshell? My name is Nathan Price, but everyone just calls me Nate. This is Mella Camyra. We're from STAR. Why are we here? Gonna make this easy: you're special. Not only are you a bender, but get this, you're the Avatar. Lucky you."

Nathan received chill inducing glares from both of the parents, but seemed indifferent. Mella mentally rolled her eyes. Nathan's people skills definitely needed a lot of work. "He has to know. Sugarcoating the fact that if he stays here and the government has found him is only going to get people killed. It could be one of you or it could be all of you. They don't care. But the point is that if we don't act now, it could and most likely will happen."

_Great way to break life-changing news to a kid, barely older than me, and in front of his parents. There are better ways dude... _"Look, this is so you and your family can stay safe, Joshua. And with STAR you can learn how to bend. I don't think the Enforcers will give you such a chance, believe me." Her purple eyes locked on his grey ones, asking him to understand. _Yes, freak out the kid who just found out he's our only hope by looking at him with your scary eyes._ Mella wished her sarcastic inner voice would just shut up sometimes. It tended to pop up at the worst of times.

Joshua caught Mella's gaze. Purple eyes was the first thing he noticed. But that didn't phase him. She was probably wearing contacts or something. His brain was working overtime to try and make sense of all this. Emotions were surfacing all at one time. Anger, frustration, confusion, denial and sadness all at once. Everything was haywire. His stare was still locked on Mella's eyes. Mella saw all of it reflected back at her._ Poor kid...and I thought my life sucked._ "I don't want to learn how to bend. I don't want to be your Avatar or whatever." His answer didn't really surprise her. He was barely older than her. He had family, and he didn't want to be taken from any of that. She didn't know what to tell him.

"The thing is, you don't have a say. We don't even have a say. Nobody can dictate or change their roles in this world. All you can do is roll with it. I don't know what will happen if you stay. The government may or may not have found you. But tell me, would you give up your family's safety for a small shot of normalcy on the miniscule chance that you won't be caught? Would you really give up on the millions of people out there who are waiting for you, the Avatar, just because you didn't ask for it?" Nathan was dead serious. The weight of what he said could be felt around the room.

Josh's eyes fell to rest on the carpet. "You came here out of nowhere. You tell me that I'm a bender. And on top of that, the Avatar. I'll go with you. If it means my mom and dad will be safe."

Mella smiled a little. "Don't worry, you and your parents will be fine. And besides, your bending story is a little like mine, just a little different." Mella felt like she had just confused everyone, including herself. That was something she was a little too good at. "I didn't know I was a bender either...STAR told me I was when I showed up. But I'm glad I found them." Mella looked at Nate again._ What next?_

"Great. You may want to grab a few things. Mr. And Mrs. Drake, now would be the time to get your goodbyes out of the way. At least for now. As you know, you have the choice between staying here with STAR agents on patrol, or being moved to a secure location at one of our facilities. You know the ups and downs of both." Nathan said to the parents. On one hand, they stay with protection never far away. But there was high risk involved. There was no telling what they'd do or how fast they'd do it. On the other hand, they could live on base. It would be a lot easier to protect them, but they'd virtually be prisoners.

"Joshua, we love you. We want to see you grow and become the person you were meant to be. But your father and I decided to stay here. So that when you do come home, there can be something normal waiting for you."

Josh nodded and went to his room. Twenty minutes later, he came back out with a backpack with his belongings.

Nate turned to Mella, "Let's give 'em a few minutes." He looked back at the family, "We'll be outside when you're ready."

Mella turned around and headed outside, following Nate. Might as well get used to calling him 'Nate.' She felt really bad for Joshua...being pulled away from everything he ever knew, just because the government wanted him. Goodbyes were never easy...or at least that's what she had heard and read. She didn't really know anything about them outside of stories. The one outside the orphanage didn't count.

Memory lane threatened to pull Mella away from reality, but she didn't let it. Mella turned to Nate. "So pretty much he comes back with us and learns how to bend?"_ Now I really wish I had read that note all the way through…_

"Bending, training, and fighting. He's gonna go through the same stuff the others do." He nodded. "Not sure how much you've done. I don't think you've been around that long. But some of the stuff we do is definitely stereotype spy. Have to with the kind of assignments we do."

He crossed his arms and leaned on the side if the house. "So what have you gotten to do since you've been here?"

Mella smiled. "It's that obvious? Yeah...I've only been here a couple months or so. They've been making me focus on my waterbending mostly. But apparently I'm a fast learner, like scary fast, so I think I'm going to be doing something new soon..."

"Kind of. But that's cool. It gets intense after bending. But training is so worth it. Some of the missions we do are extremely demanding but the rush is amazing." he said.

Mella looked back at the door. It felt like they had been waiting ages. "Nate? How long have we been waiting?"

Nate checked his watch. "About ten minutes. I'm gonna see if they're ready."


	5. 4 Change of Plans

As Nathan approached the door, it opened. He stepped back to allow Josh to come out. He motioned for Mella to follow him to the car as final hugs were exchanged. Nate put the passenger seat down to allow Josh into the backseat.

Once everyone loaded in, the car took off. "So does the car come standard?" Josh was attempting to break the awkward silence. Nathan shook his head. "Unfortunately it doesn't. You a car guy?"

"Nah. I mean, I got my license but I don't know the first thing about how these things work." Josh replied.

"I'm gonna have to fix that." Nate grinned.

Josh gave him an awkward smile. He glanced in Mella's direction. "Is that your real eye color? I've been trying to see the edges of contacts but I can't see them."

"Yeah, this is my real eye color. No contacts or anything. I'm weird that way." Mella smiled a little. "How 'bout you? Is that your real eye color?" Mella teased him a little bit.

He chuckled a bit when Mella returned the question. "Touché. But yeah. All natural. My grandpa had grey eyes." He tried to think about things that were normal to him. He thought about his life and how just the other day he was worrying about colleges and what he was going to be. It had changed instantly and that terrified him.

Mella saw Joshua's face in the mirror. "Hey dude, everything's gonna be fine. You'll see." He was freaking out on the inside, she could tell. People's eyes didn't hide much. Mella supposed that's why they were called 'windows to the soul.'

"Easy to say when you're not the one who's supposed to bring back peace or whatever it is." he muttered.

Nathan chimed in. "Can't bring back what was never there. All everyone wants is some order and acceptance. I don't know what they tell everyone but for hundreds of years there have been power struggles with benders. Heck, why do you think there's an Avatar? Sure a lot of duties do fall on you but in the end its all worth it. Besides, whoever said you had to do it on your own?"

Josh looked up from the window. "You're both gonna be there?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Depends on where they assign us but I'm sure we'll catch up eventually." Nate shrugged.

_That's what I thought... _"So where we're going, its pretty big I take it?"

"I think so...that's more of a Nate question. I'm still practically a newbie there...but that means we may learn waterbending together." Mella smiled. "You're way better off than I was. You already know two people. I didn't know anyone." If STAR had any sense, they would probably be together. It would make things easier for Josh if he had people he already knew around him.

"It's absolutely huge. STAR was built using some of the old Earth Kingdom smuggling tunnels. The government never found them because they were so well hidden centuries ago. So without knowing where to look, there was no reason for it to ever be found. We added rooms and corridors and practically made a small community. Well, a community with training room, simulators, and a supply closet." Nathan elaborated.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Supply closet? That doesn't sound like anything spectacular."

"It's actually a room full of missions gear, gadgets, survival equipment, and anything else a field agent may need for just about any kind of situation."

"The name is misleading."

"I know."

Mella just listened to the boys talk about the base. She had to admit, it all sounded pretty cool, but she never had a chance to look around fully. Eventually she would get around to it, that was, if she had the time.

The older of the two agents checked his watch then reached over to the dash and hit a button. A small screen rose from the dashboard. After a few seconds, the blank screen changed to show Director Carlisle sitting at a desk. Mella waved at him a little. "Ah, Nathan, Mella, I see your mission was a success." the older man smiled. Josh was wide-eyed at the arrival of the intercom. He was starting to wonder what else the car could do. He was pretty impressed. Mella had the same feeling, and was wondering where Nathan had hidden the kitchen sink and the bed.

"Yes sir. Everything is going to plan. I received confirmation earlier that the squads have successfully arrived to start monitoring the Drake household."

"Very good. What's your ETA from your current position?"

Nathan glanced out the window. "Five minutes. We'll be pulling into the base in about two." They would be seeing the driveway in a few seconds.

The Director nodded but was interrupted. A large crash shook the camera and debris could be seen in the room. The audio was cutting out. Another shake of the camera, but this time flames could be seen behind Carlisle with more rubble falling. That's when they saw it. A huge pillar of flame erupted from the grassy hills. The metal door blew up and the flames came roaring after it. Nathan pulled the car into a sudden turn stop. Josh was thankful he was wearing a seat belt. And that he had a light lunch. "What's going on?!" Nathan demanded. He watched as a distraught agent came into the room and shouted something to the director. The connection was bad so that Nathan couldn't make out what he was saying, which only frustrated him further.

Mella braced herself against the door of the car, fear and panic rising in her throat. This wasn't supposed to happen. The screen got worse, to the point where it was practically static. _No, no no no this is not happening! _But it was happening...and Mella had this sinking feeling that her home was gone, again.

"Take the Avatar to the Mercury base. Now." the Director said through the choppy connection.

"But Director-"

"Now, Agent Price. That's an order."

The screen went blank and Nathan growled. The small screen went back into the dashboard. Nate finished the turn to face the other road and peeled out to speed in the opposite direction. Josh was starting to panic. "We have to make sure my parents are okay!"

"Too risky." Nate was staring down the road.

"We're going back!"

Nate flipped the car around, speeding off towards Josh's parents. "Nathan, stop! If we go back, then we'll be putting them in danger, not to mention Josh. Just do what the Director said. We aren't safe out here!" Mella was trying to keep it together, as the feelings got worse. Her room, the few things she had gotten in the past three(ish) months...were gone. _Not now...don't let it show now. It's not the time..._

Nate stopped the car and pulled to the side of the street. There was a fork in the road. "I need to think!" he snapped, running a hand through his hair, eyes glued to the rear view mirror. Every so often he'd check the roads in front of them as well. He was making sure that they hadn't been followed or that they were being pursued.

STAR was his home. And just like that it was gone. It was the only place he'd ever known as his home and there were people he cared about. His actual family were all agents and lived on that base as well. Friends, family, and those he considered like family were there as well. He didn't know who was alive and who wasn't that fortunate. He wasn't even sure Carlisle was alive. That man would not go down without a fight. That, Nathan knew for sure. But then he and Mella had their own problems to deal with on top of this.

Nathan calmed his tone, or at least tried to as he answered Josh. "Look, kid, you're the Avatar, but until you can actually live up to that title, you're following our orders. Communications are down. Until they're back up, we can't contact the agents that are supposed to be with your parents. We will try reaching them in a couple hours, but we are not going back. For all we know the government could be waiting." Nate saw Josh tense at his statement. The agent sighed. "But, on the other hand, those agents have been there for days. First sign of danger, they would have deployed and moved your folks out to a safe location. They'll be relocated and taken care of."

Josh was freaking out. One minute he was totally awestruck by the features of this already amazing-looking car. The next, they were speeding away from this explosion he assumed to be the STAR base. His first thought were his parents. He couldn't stand if anything had happened to them. When he demanded that Nate turn back, it appeared that he did. But Mella seemed to be tipping the scale of Nate's already undecided mind.

Josh fought the urge to get out and run for his place. He decided against it because first of all, they'd probably catch up to him no problem. Second, they were benders, who knew what they could do to stop him. And lastly, he'd have to climb over the front seat to actually reach the door. Stupid two-door muscle cars. Josh jumped at Nate's outburst. The seemingly in-control agent seemed to have momentarily lost his cool. Mella noticed Nathan's outer shell had visibly cracked...and hopefully she didn't look like that either..seeing as she was as easy to read as a book. With pictures. And all the ginormous words underneath the said pictures. But after the most tense two minutes ever, he started talking again. At least this time he seemed to have capped his stress. After the agent had stopped, Josh didn't feel any more relieved. Either his parents were already found by the government, or they were in protection. A feeling of dread washed over him, thinking of the first option.

"We have to go. Ready?" Nate asked the two of them. He was really asking if there was going to be any more outbursts. He was already distraught enough and he was working extremely hard to disguise that. There was so much travelling ahead of them to get to Mercury base, he needed to be able to drive without someone telling him to turn around.

Mella was still trying to control her panic. Where was her home supposed to be now? All she had know was that STAR base...the orphanage didn't count. Mella just nodded in response to Nate's question. She had a feeling that her voice would give away her feelings if she spoke. Mella looked in the side mirror, where the plumes of smoke were still billowing towards the clouds...and Josh sitting in the back, his expression of complete devastation. _Okay...maybe I'll have to say something._

"You're parents will be fine, Joshua...STAR agents are badasses. They won't let anyone hurt them." Josh wasn't completely convinced. He barely knew these guys but at the moment, all he could do is trust them. He nodded to show in some way that he got what they were saying. He still wasn't 100% sure his parents were okay but there was at least some hope. Mella looked over towards Nate. "Let's get going...I guess. Hey," Mella tried to lighten the mood a little bit. "Does your fancy car have music hiding somewhere?" Somehow it was either music, or books that fixed all of Mella's problems. Hopefully music was enough for all three of them.

Nathan got the car rolling. They were driving the speed limit as opposed to the speeding from earlier now that Nate was sure they weren't being followed. He was still rigid though. And on high alert. The agent visibly became slightly less tense when Mella spoke. Nathan pressed a button on the console that activated the surround sound audio, followed by a newly-lit radio display. "Anything but country." he said, still watching the road as he drove.

_What is it with people hating country music?_ Everywhere she seemed to go, someone always had a thing against country. Thankfully, Mella listened to pretty much anything but rap. She tapped buttons until she found music that she remembered liking and stuck with it.

Mella looked over at Nate. It looked like he was pointedly ignoring looking over at her, and was staring down the road. She looked through the side mirror at Josh, who was just staring out the window.

_I guess it's going to be a quiet drive to Mercury Base then...Hopefully I don't fall asleep..._ Mella stared out the window as 'Counting Stars' floated through the car.

**Will be updating every Wednesday! So hold tight!**


	6. 5 Gross Accommodations

The trio had been driving around for hours before it finally got dark. The Mercury base was the closest STAR location. It was located in a coastal state which would mean that the three would have to travel over an entire state to get to Mercury. It was now pitch black outside. Nathan was taking as many back roads as possible to avoid any attention that the government might have put out on the freeways. At least with back roads, it was easy enough to kill the lights and go a different direction if needed. 11:30 flashed on the display. Nathan yawned deeply and sat forward in his seat. A few times he would catch himself dozing but would blink it off before they started swerving. "We need to find a motel to crash for the night." he said. He wasn't sure who was awake at this point but the silence needed to be broken before he fell asleep at the wheel.

Mella jerked awake. She had been dozing off, thinking of some book series or another. She saw the time on the dash and yawned.

"Yeah, okay...hey Josh, you awake back there?" Josh was knocked out in the back seat. All the stress had just wiped him out. Combined with the long car drive, he stood no chance at staying awake. No matter how hard he'd tried. "Wherever you want to go, Nathan. We can wake him up when we stop."

Nathan nodded. "I think there was a lodge sign a while back. We should be hitting something pretty soon." He yawned again. "You can call me Nate by the way. That's what I usually go by. Didn't have a chance to mention it earlier." Not to mention it had been extremely awkward in the beginning. Which was normal. Getting a new partner always had that break-in period. However, this one had to go pretty fast due to recent events.

"Okay then...Nate." Mella smiled a little...and fell silent again as they started approaching the dim lights of what looked to be a little town. "Will any place let us in this late?"

"Open the glove box. I'm sure if we ask real nicely, we won't have a problem getting a room this late." Nate grinned slightly. The glove compartment contained several clear parcels, one of which contained stacks of cash. "STAR makes sure we have what we need. Sometimes we have to be a little more persuasive when we have to get information. Threatening doesn't always work, 'cause they know if anything happens to them, we still won't get what we want. So, we have to use other methods." Nathan explained further. There was so much to learn in STAR, it never hurt to get extra information. When Nate was growing up, he remembered a lot of the older agents showing him the ropes. It was helpful since a lot of things with STAR were learned on the spot.

He took a turn off into the small town. The motel could be seen from the road. The neon sign was flickering and was obviously old. The building, as they approached, showed the same signs of age. All in all, it was not somewhere anyone, male or female, would feel safe at being alone. "Not the prettiest, but it'll have to do." he said, a little skeptical of the place himself. It looked like there could be a few shady deals going down around any corner. But if he didn't get some shut eye soon, he was going to just crash in the driver's seat.

‟Okay then...and if anyone asks about the three of us, we're cousins on our way to see family on the coast." Mella had gotten very good at making up stories when she had been traveling. Everyone she had met believed her stories when they had asked, since it was very strange for a teenage girl to be traveling on her own on foot.

"Sounds good." Nathan nodded. Mella may have been new, but she seemed to know her way around an alibi. Cousins would work perfectly. If it weren't for platinum blonde-grey eyes behind them, they might have been able to pass as siblings. Half-siblings at the very least. They pulled into the very dingy motel. Nate worked his way to the counter after grabbing what he needed from the glove box. The man at the counter seemed very uninterested in his job and even less interested in Nate's apparent need of a room so that they could meet up with their family the next morning.

Mella twisted around in her seat to face Josh, who was still out. She hated to wake him, but there was absolutely no way he could stay in the car. "Josh? Joshua, you gotta wake up. We're stopping for the night."

Josh stirred a bit as his name was called. When he opened his eyes, he looked mildly disappointed, as if he'd been hoping it'd all been some sort of nightmare. "Where are we? Did we finally get to that base?" he asked, moving his neck around. It had been stiff from the long car ride. He glanced around their surroundings, drowsy at first, but soon more alert to notice that this was the outside of some sort of sleazy motel. "Gonna take that as a no." he muttered, seeing Nate slip the front desk worker a few bills.

"I see STAR only provides the best accommodations." he scoffed.

Mella rolled her eyes at Josh as she stepped out of the car to let him out. "Give us a break. This wasn't really planned. At least it's somewhere to crash til morning."

Josh stepped out and stretched his back. "Assuming we all make it 'til morning. This place is not the picture of safety." Some of the 'guests' around the area were a bit unsettling as they watched the people come out of the car.

Mella resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Ye of little faith. You're gonna be fine...you have us." _Although...you are starting to get annoying…_

Reassuring, considering your headquarters just got blown up. Josh didn't say anything further, but did not exactly trust these two with his life. He barely knew their names! Josh was ever the skeptic. Mella's reassurance that they would get through the night wasn't reassuring. But he decided to let it go.

Mella knew they were lucky tonight. But she hadn't been so lucky on her journey. Shockingly, it freaked people out when they saw a girl with violently purple eyes asking for a place to crash. Only the very kind had let her stay, and then only at most for a day.

Mella realized that she must have zoned out, because Nate was back. "We have a room, I guess?"

Nate came back and nodded. "Yeah, I managed to snag one. But be prepared to leave early. I don't want to spend more time than we have to here." He walked to the back of the car and fished out a black backpack from the otherwise empty trunk.

She nodded at Nate. Seeing the people hanging around...at 11:30 wasn't too comforting. Mella would be glad when they left. "Yeah...I'm perfectly okay with that."

"I'm gonna see if I can get a status on your parents once we get to the room." he stated to Josh, pulling the backpack over his shoulders.

After leading the others to the room, Nathan used the key card to let them in. Inside there was a shabby room with tacky wallpaper and furniture from a few decades back. Two double beds took up most of the space and an old TV on a stand crowded the walkway. The nightstand had a phone and the bathroom (sink, counter, mirror, etc) was right next to the far bed. The toilet and the shower were behind two different doors on either sides of the "bathroom." All in all, it was tiny. "You two can take the beds, I'll be by the door." Nate said, looking at the little chain that would be serving as security in case anyone got past the locks. Just looking at the area and quality of the building, it wasn't reassuring.

Mella doubted she would get any sleep. She really didn't want to fall asleep in this place at all. Gingerly, she pulled off the grungy comforters off the beds and chucked them in a corner, some weird habit left over from the orphanage. You never knew what the other kids might have done while you were hiding out in the library. "How early do we wanna get out of here tomorrow?" Mella asked tiredly as she sat down on the bed, releasing a cloud of dust, making her sneeze.

Nate was inspecting the window to make sure it actually had a lock, "5:30 sound okay? I just need my 5 hours and I'm good to go. You guys can sleep in the car. I don't have that luxury." He was now facing both of his travel buddies. He took the backpack off and placed it on the bed to start taking things out.

"Alright. Whatcha got hiding in the bag?" Mella yawned.

"After you've been in STAR for a few years, you never leave without your necessities." he said bringing out a small camping pillow. "I've got my toothbrush/toothpaste, deodorant, hair gel, first aid, etcetera etcetera." Nathan frowned slightly at the floor. "Should have packed a sheet." He went back to rifling through the backpack and pulled out a RAZR flip phone. "I'm gonna check communications. See if I can get an update on the 'rents." He flipped the cover of the older phone and dialed a number. He paused slightly then began talking. "This is Agent Nathan Price requesting a status from Unit 15."

Nathan paused again, listening to whoever was on the other line. "Copy that. Price out." He turned back to both people in the room. "They're safe. They'll be back under protection in their own home in four days. No attempts were made to infiltrate, it's just a precaution."

Josh breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe. Hopefully the same could be said for them.

"How far away are we from base?" Mella yawned, leaning back against the headboard of the really gross bed._ I seriously don't want to fall asleep here..._she thought to herself, but her eyes were closing on their own.

"We've got about 10 or more hours of road to cover. Shouldn't be that bad though." Nate said before realizing Mella was already out. He glanced over at Josh who was staring up at the ceiling from his bed. He kind of felt bad for the kid, but they all had their responsibilities. Besides, Joshua wasn't the only one who lost something. As of earlier that day, both Nate and Mella were homeless. Nathan didn't even know who was alive yet. But once they got to Mercury base, they would find out. It only took a couple minutes for Nate to knock out.


	7. 6 Darts and Tattoos

Joshua couldn't stay asleep to save his life. He was in and out so much that night. Every so often he'd glance over at the two who seemed to sleep on command, but he just couldn't do that. So much was racing through his mind, it was dizzying. Eventually he was able to get a couple hours of uninterrupted rest. But the rest was broken. While somewhere in the middle of unconscious and not, he heard the shower going. Opening one tired eye, he saw Nate was no longer leaning on the wall. He couldn't even make out what time it was, the sleep in his eyes was blurring everything. Josh gave up after that. Forcing his eyes shut once more, he drifted to sleep almost effortlessly. However, an abrupt turning on of the lights snapped him out of it. "Wakey wakey, guys..." Nathan called. Though he wasn't talking that loudly, to a sleeping person, he might as well have been using a megaphone.

Mella's sleep was dark, and dreamless. Nate's voice filtered through, and then the surprisingly bright room lights clicked on, waking her even further._ How can someone sound that happy in the morning?_ Mella blearily opened her eyes. She had been sleeping sitting up, which was probably why her neck was killing her.

As the Avatar-to-be starting coming to, he noticed Nate's tattoo. It wasn't hard since Nathan was shirtless at the time, shaving. He was wearing the same jeans as yesterday so he assumed he didn't want to get his only shirt wet. "That's an airbending tattoo, right?" he asked, sitting up.

Nathan nodded. "Good eye."

"History books. And no offense, but you don't exactly look like a monk."

"None taken. Most of the traditions were lost through generations. It would be a lot harder to blend in with full body tattoos and shaved heads. And I would probably go crazy without bacon cheeseburgers. But there's no rule saying you can't pay homage in some way." Nate explained.

Josh nodded, fascinated. He looked over to Mella, unsure if she was fully awake or asleep. "What's your power?"

"Me? Guess." Mella said with a yawn, stretching. She started messing with the water in the sink, making a happy face float in front of the mirror, right over Nate's reflection. Josh watched the water manipulate into the shape of a happy face. Nate watched as a small smile appeared on Josh's own face. It became apparent he hadn't seen much bending. It didn't surprise him, but still, it was like a small kid watching a magician pull a rabbit out of his hat.

"It has nothing to do with my tattoo though." Mella had half forgotten that she was wearing a tank top, exposing her left shoulder. She twisted around so they could see. There was a tattoo there, a sun with it's arms radiating out. Nate hadn't even noticed it the night before. He glanced in the mirror to see the marking on the girl's shoulder. As soon as he finished his business, Nathan put his shirt back on, covering the light blue-grey arrow band on his right arm. "I'm not even sure where it came from...It's been there as long as I can remember, even before I came here." Mella said, then she shut up instantly. She didn't like to explain her past...and what she said might bring up questions she didn't want to answer or talk about...or remembered._ Don't ask...just don't ask._

She sat there, silently looking at the two boys. Josh looked like he hadn't slept at all. There were dark circles under his eyes. _Poor dude, he must still be exhausted..._

"What do you mean?" Josh asked, facing Mella now. He was originally going to make a comment about having to get inked up to be in STAR, but now he was curious. "I mean, getting a tattoo is a pretty memorable event I'd think." he added. Nathan stayed quiet as he waited to hear what Mella was going to say. Earlier in the car the day before, the girl didn't seem too keen on sharing much.

_Crap..._he had asked. Mella let the water drop back into the sink.

Mella really didn't like talking about her past. The tattoo frustrated her. "Josh...I really don't know. Its just been there. Although," she stopped for a minute and thought back. Murky, fuzzy memories rose from the depths of her mind, until Mella pushed them away. "I dont think I had it when I left my last home...everything's just really blurry." She didn't want to remember that place, so she just ignored her memories of it.

Both guys looked utterly confused. Especially Josh. Well that definitely made him want to push on, but Mella changed the subject. She seemed like she was in a hurry to stop talking, which only made him that much more curious.

Mella stood up and stretched. "Let's just hurry and get out of here." Mella would have said more, but a noise from outside made her fall silent. The boys saw her froze in her tracks.

Nathan tensed up then silently crept his way to the window, picking up his backpack and zipping it slowly so it didn't make a sound. Josh was putting his shoes back on and kept an eye on Nathan as the agent looked out onto the dimly lit balcony. Nathan was pulling the curtain just slightly.

He didn't see anything and closed the curtain. "I think we're okay," he whispered, "but we should head out." Nate was still visibly tensed. Josh hadn't realized he was holding his breath until he started breathing normally again. That is, until the door got kicked in and two AR-15-wielding guys wearing SWAT-like uniforms with gas masks came bursting in. Two canisters of tear gas came rolling in. Nathan, who was closest to the door, was in shock. He was not expecting that. But he didn't waste time engaging their attackers. Apparently they didn't know anyone was next to the door because Nathan lunged to point the guns up to the ceiling and proceeded to kick the guy closest to the doorway. The man he was holding onto was then pushed into the wall and his weapon was thrown as Nate gave the guy a right hook to the head, rendering him unconscious. "Get out and go to the car, now!" he shouted to the two. As soon as they cleared the doorway they were greeted by gunfire.

This was insane. Josh stayed low and attempted to avoid bullets. He was dashing across the upper balcony top speed, keeping pace with Mella. Behind them, Nate was attempting to catch up with them but was soon met with at least three more guys who dropped from above the room, not unlike the set that had rappelled down in front of Josh and Mella to block their path. The thing was as many shots that were being fired, they weren't hitting. Either these guys were the worst shots ever, or they weren't actually trying to hit them.

Mella swore loudly, and started whaling on the men that appeared in front of them. One went down instantly, and she shouted to Josh while she grappled with the others. "Keep going!" She knocked the other two into each other. Gunfire blazed around them, but nothing hit them. _These guys are terrible shots...unless.._. Mella looked down at a 'bullet,' which turned out to be a dart. They were trying to catch them._ Not good, not good._ "Nate! Jump! They're tranqs!" Mella yelled, grabbing Josh and pulling him down the stairs towards the car. Josh attempted to keep up with Mella and managed to get down the stairs without faceplanting. This was crazy! People were shooting tranquilizer darts at them! How could they even know where they were? Hopefully Nate knew what she meant. He's was an airbender and a STAR agent, for Pete's sake.

Through the fray, Nate heard Mella shout. He didn't have to be told twice. Suddenly it all made sense. These guys weren't shooting to kill, they had to get those darts to land. It was no wonder nothing was connecting. Nate elbowed the closest guy to him then spun around. Using his airbending, Nathan pushed forward to knock them back a few feet. While the people in back were distracted, Nathan turned back toward the balcony. He jumped into a flip over the few people in front of him and over the guard railing. As Mella predicted, Nathan's airbending cushioned the two story fall and the agent came down into a three point landing.

Mella threw the door of the car open, shoving Josh inside, and clambering in after him, while Nate ran towards them. She was completely unaware that a dart had hit her in the shoulder. Mella was panicking slightly._ How did they find us? No one knew we were here..._ "Josh, there may be a water bottle back there. Hand it to me." Mella had thought up a plan to stop-or at least slow down-the men chasing them. It was a long shot, but their only hope at the moment.

Josh couldn't figure it out, but he didn't care at the moment. All he knew was that he was glad when they made it into the car. When Mella requested a bottle of water or at least some sort of water, he nodded, slightly winded. He looked around finding nothing, but finally he looked under the seat and found an unopened bottle of water. "Here," he said handing her the bottle. "You're not going back out there?" he asked, watching Nate make his way though soldiers as well as the ones advancing on the car.

"I'm not going back out, I'm covering our escape!"

Nate raced to the car as fast as he could. "Let's go!" he shouted.

"DRIVE!" Mella yelled. Nate floored the gas pedal. First in reverse to get out of the parking spot, then into drive and they were out of there. Mella cracked the window so the wind whipped into the car, messing with their hair. Mella dumped water out the window towards a set of big headlights. The remaining Enforcers (Because who else could it be?) had piled into a semi that was barreling down on them. The large vehicle was surprisingly fast. Both vehicles left a cloud of dust in their wake, the empty back road had no turns for miles. And no witnesses. The open window sounded like a helicopter as the wind came in through the window. Josh was watching this all from the backseat, heart beating rapidly. That truck was catching up. But then he remembered the bottle of water.

Mella was bending the water so it was ahead of the truck, freezing into nasty spikes. But mella wasn't done yet. The rest of the water pooled and froze ahead of the spikes. "Spikes and black ice. One or both should be enough to stop them, right?" Mella said, her words slurring.

The semi stood no chance at the speed it was going. It hit those spikes and the slick ice and instantly flew off the road. Josh watched as the monster of a vehicle drove into the soft dirt surrounding them, throwing up dust and dirt and eventually flipping. The trailer toppled and turned, dragging the cab with it. "Oh yeah!" Josh cheered quietly. However, the excitement was short lived.

Mella didn't know what was wrong with herself. Mella leaned back into her seat. Something needle sharp was digging into her right shoulder. Dizzily, Mella pulled whatever it was out and looked down at it. It swam in and out of focus, but without a doubt, it was a dart. One of those things actually hit her. Josh couldn't believe it. This was not good. "Nate? I...I think I got hit..." was what she thought she said, before she started shutting down, slumping in her seat.

Nate looked over to the passenger seat at the sound of Mella's concern. "Crap." he muttered, looking back to the road so they wouldn't swerve off and meet the same fate as the truck.

"What do we do?" Josh asked, moving to the middle seat to better get in position to help Mella, although there wasn't much he could do. Nate was glancing in between the road and Mella.

"It's a tranquilizer. If they wanted us dead, they would have been using something much more dangerous than these." he said. "She'll just have to hang in there until we get to base."

Mella couldn't move. Trying to open her eyes didn't seem like a great idea anymore, because wherever Nate was driving, it was REALLY bright. Whatever noise that seemed to filter through to her was either too loud or barely loud enough to hear. It was like trying to listen to static, and it made her head pound.

Mella tried squinting, which worked a little. They were near the coast, the sunlight bouncing off the water. It was making her head spin. Mella groaned. "Where...where are we?" she slurred. She sounded like she was drunk, with a hangover, at least by book descriptions of it. If this was what being drunk was, Mella was never going to drink. Not even when she turned twenty-one.

"Take it easy." Nate urged her as she came to groggy consciousness. "We're almost to Mercury along the coast. How are you feeling?" he asked her, not sure how aware she was.

The static in her head cut out almost everything he had said, except the bit about Mercury Base. Mella tried opening her eyes again, but the light was too bright. This was definitely not something she would wish on anybody, no matter how terrible they were. "Whatever's in this...really messes with your head. How...how'd they find us?" Mella asked, the tranquilizer threatening to pull her under again.

Nate could tell Mella was definitely feeling that tranq. Those things sucked. "That's what we're gonna find out."

In the backseat, Josh was relieved Mella was indeed okay. It was also a plus that once Nate hit the main freeway they were in the clear. It would be nearly impossible for them to be spotted in a sea of endless cars. Now they drove on a bridge over the ocean with the sun making the water sparkle with every wave. It was almost mesmerizing. Josh had never seen the ocean before. This was his first time out of state. This was definitely a new and amazing experience. It made him miss his parents, but he knew that he had to keep a straight face or someone would try to reassure him again. After the day before and that morning, he didn't want them to feel sorry for him. If anything, he felt like a dead weight. Mella had taken that dart while she was protecting him. It wasn't a good feeling.

The bridge led into a tunnel. Nate took an exit and two more before they made it to shore level. As they spiraled down a hill, they came to a stop at a dead end. But Nate hit a button and soon enough the moss covered wall opened up. "Okay, you guys have a Batcave. I will give you points for that." Josh said as they drove into the tunnel, Nate grinned slightly at that. Mella felt the light vanish. Without the light it was easier to open her eyes and keep them open. Her hearing still left something to be desired. All she caught from Josh is 'Batcave.'

"Don't worry, we have medics. They'll fix you up." Nate glanced at Mella, who barely nodded.

The car came to park in a garage that didn't look much different from any typical structure you saw in a city. Nathan called in while they sat in the underground garage. From Mella's view of things, everything was weird. Nate was talking again...this time on his phones. _Wait...phones? What?_ Mella blinked, and he slid back into focus for a little, then two Nates appeared again. As they waited, Nate reached back to grab his backpack. "Can you swallow?" He asked the tranquilized passenger, holding a bottle of water.

Sleep was starting to sound like a good idea, but Mella forced herself to stay awake. The Nates were talking to her, holding water bottles, but the sound cut out again.

"I'm seeing way... too many Nates right now..."

Both boys glanced at each other, Nate look back at Mella with a raised eyebrow. "Gonna take that as a 'no'. Just hold in there. Gurney is on its way. They'll be here any minute now." No sooner than the words came out of his mouth, the sound of plastic wheels echoed in the garage. Nate put the bottle back into his bag and got out of the car. He moved the seat so that Josh could get out then proceeded to Mella's side to open her door. It took a lot of effort, but Mella managed to turn her head. What looked like ten people were standing there. Looking made Mella dizzy, and being moved out of the Camaro didn't help. She squeezed her eyes shut...and the tranq took her again.

Nate and Josh let the people do their job. "She's in good hands. You and I have to talk to Jack Tyler. He's the guy in charge around here. We'll get situated and hopefully we'll get some answers." he told him. Josh just nodded as he watched the medics wheel Mella away.

"Hey, relax. Mella will be fine. This isn't your fault. It's just a hazard of the job." Nate nudged Josh forwards towards the lifts, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"These 'hazards' happen a lot?" Josh muttered as he stepped onto the platform with his own bag.

"Not really, no. But like I said, we'll talk to Jack and find out what going on. We'll go check back up on her later." Nate said as the lift doors closed with a snap.


	8. 7 Base and Backstories

The boys met with the man known as Jack Tyler. He was nice enough and made sure they were taken care of. Answers, however, were in short supply. Jack told them everything he could and the two were escorted off to their new living arrangements. The next day, both guys were waiting in the sick bay for Mella. They were in her room while she was still asleep. They had actually both went to go see her. It wasn't planned but it happened. Nate was back in STAR uniform, Josh was wearing a change of his own clothes. Both of them looked much better rested than the day prior. A proper bed in an underground lair did wonders for sleep deprivation.

Mella opened her eyes and saw white everywhere. White walls, white ceilings, white sheets, white chairs with metal legs. But the chairs weren't empty. Nate and Josh were sitting next to the bed. Mella cracked a smile and sat up slowly. "Hey...morning guys. What's up?" Mella asked, her voice back to normal. The tranq must have worn off, because everything else seemed normal again too. There wasn't double Nates or weird static and she could move again.

"You're awfully chipper. Still seeing double?" Nate asked, holding up three fingers. "How many?" They were told that the effects of the tranquilizers were long gone when they walked in that morning. Nate was just confirming. Josh was sitting quietly in his chair, grinning slightly at Nate's gesture and mock seriousness as he held his out his hand. That night it had been a lot easier to sleep than the night before. After being assured that the base was safe, he had finally gotten a good night's sleep.

Mella rolled her eyes. "Three. And you'd be happy too if you didn't have to listen to white noise anymore." She fell silent for a minute. The airbender put his hand down and nodded, satisfied with the answer. "How long was I out for anyways? And when do I get to find food and a shower?" Mella felt almost hyper, and hungry. She hadn't eaten before they had left to get Josh, and there was no time after. And there was no way she was gonna use the shower at that hotel. She didn't even know how Nate had managed it. That place had just been plain gross.

"It was all day yesterday. Until this morning. You were out of commission for about twenty-eight hours. It was broken, but still, that was quite a while to be either sleeping or tripping" Nate answered, shifting slightly. That was over a day. Crazy stuff. But one of the many things that came along with the lifestyle. It still shook him though. Mella noticed Nate's fidgeting. Something was bugging him, but she'd let him tell her on his own. Mella understood better than most people the need for space. But she gave him a look that said, 'tell me later.' Nate caught Mella's look and responded by raising both eyebrows then letting them back down quickly. Just a way to confirm.

Josh went ahead and spoke up to respond to Mella's other questions. "The nurses said you could leave when you were ready. They have rooms for us already, private bathrooms included. We already had breakfast, but the dining room is open 24/7." It was something Josh had discovered the day before. He had been starving by the time they were done using the showers and other luxuries STAR had to offer.

Mella definitely wanted to get going. She hated sitting around with nothing to do. She threw the sheets back and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She was still wearing her jeans and tank top from the other base. Her shoes sat on the floor next to the bed. Mella slipped them on and stood up, a little unsteadily. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Both boys stood up simultaneously as Mella swayed upon getting up. "Alright. But maybe a little slower." Nate said, with both him and Josh ready in case the girl decided to take a tumble.

"I'm fine, guys. I'm not going to faceplant. Take me on the grand tour, I guess. Nate, random question: If this is Mercury base, then what was the other one called?" She had never really heard the name of the base. Everyone had just referred to it as 'base.'

Nate nodded and led them all out of the hospital wing. They walked through the white medical area for a while before reaching a lift and pressing the call button.

"Good question. STAR is based off of our solar system. Guess they decided they liked the name and rolled with the theme. The base we were originally stationed at was our main location. It was the Sun Station. Each base is named according to its distance from that base. There are eight bases and the station altogether, all located across the country." Nate explained.

Josh leaned against the wall while listening to Nate explain the bases. It was interesting, a little corny, nerdy maybe, but definitely interesting. He wondered if he'd ever have to see these other bases, being the Avatar and all. Really he wasn't sure what to expect. But he was okay knowing his parents were okay. He'd spoken to them over the comm links that morning. After the attack on the trio the day before, the parents were moved to a safe location. They would remain there for a couple weeks until they could find out how their location was found out by the government.

Mella smiled at the base thing. Either STAR didn't believe Pluto was a planet, or they hadn't gotten around to making it yet. "Cool. Maybe it's a good thing Carlisle didn't say Neptune base." Mella had almost forgotten why they had ended up here. Mella spoke quietly. "Do we know anything about what happened back at Sun?" She was almost afraid to ask, and she wished the lift would hurry up.

"Yeah, we'd still be on the road." Nate responded, the trace of a laugh in his voice. At the mention of Carlisle, everyone, including Josh, seemed to lose spirit. "We don't know yet. The raid didn't end until yesterday at about three in the morning. There's so many people to go through. They're still trying to find everyone." His voice was now flat, emotionless. So many people were already confirmed dead. Nate knew some of them well, others he'd heard their names around. Then there were those he didn't know at all. He wondered how many people knew them if they would go unremembered for their services. Would he end up that way? Lost in a list of names?

The lift finally came. The door opened and they stepped inside. Mella looked at Nate before stepping into the lift. His face was blank, but his grey eyes looked distant. Mella had forgotten that Nate knew way more people than she did.

"They're going to find them, Nate." The lift started up, and Mella had to fight back her panic. She hated being claustrophobic. Mella had ignored the fact that they were going to the lifts until the lift had actually started. She kept talking, trying to distract herself. "What I want to know is how. The base was secret, and the hotel was spur of the moment. How did someone find out?" The lift felt like an eternity, and she kept thinking to herself 'don't panic, don't panic.'

Anger and frustration bubbled underneath the grief Nate was feeling. "We're still working on that. But there's talk about a mole. As for the motel, we're not sure. I'm thinking that if there has been government penetration they might have tapped my call when we checked on Josh's parents."

Josh looked up from staring at his feet. "But if that's true, how come they didn't just go after them? They would have had their location as well, wouldn't they?"

"It's just a theory. We don't even know what it really was. But STAR has moved them. That's why you were able to talk to them today. I told Director Tyler about my suspicions last night."

The lift came to a stop at their floor and Nate stepped out first. "Also, Director Tyler wanted me to inform you. Any kind of plans for Josh," Nate glanced at the younger boy then back to Mella, "goes through us. With talk of a mole, we're the only ones with airtight trust. There was no way it could have been us. I've been under surveillance for six months now, Mella since as long as she's been here. As far as STAR is concerned, we're the new Team Avatar."

"Team Avatar...it's got a ring to it." A mole. But why would someone want to turn on STAR? STAR was pretty much the last hope of any true legal bending. Who would want to take that away? The lift stopped and Mella left after Nate, glad to be out of that tiny box. "How are your parents, Josh?" Mella knew he probably missed them a lot, and she was happy he had gotten a chance to talk with them.

"They're doing good. Freaked, but at least they're safe" Josh smiled slightly. Safe to say no one expected the last couple of days to turn out the way they did.

Thinking of parents made her once again think of her own, which gave Mella an idea. One she wasn't too thrilled about but...

"If we can only trust each other...then maybe...maybe you should know my full story. It's not fair to keep you guys out of the loop anymore, even though it's only been two days. I'll tell you both later. So, where do we go from here?"

Nathan nodded. "Sounds fair enough." It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious . Same went for Josh. Ever since Mella cut off, it was killing him to know why she was so mysterious. "Erm, where do you want to go? We can either go to your room or the dining commons." Nathan answered.

Mella looked down at her clothes, which were dusty and smelled like the motel. "Room, so I can shower and change real quick, and then food." Mella wasn't quite sure what clothes were in her room, but she would bet there was a STAR uniform she could wear if there wasn't anything else. "Lead the way."

Nate led them down a few more hallways and finally made it to a commons. From there he went left and they found themselves in a hallway with doors on both sides going down a huge stretch. He took them down about ten rooms and opened a door with a key. Just the standard kind. No cards or anything.

He swung the door open. The room was almost like a dorm room, but with higher quality furniture: a desk, a couple of chairs, and a bed. And it had a built-in full-sized bathroom. On the foot of the bed, a STAR uniform was folded neatly. "They didn't have anything else, but I'm sure we'll get out of here eventually to get whatever we need in town." Nathan stated.

Mella nodded. "Okay, cool. I'm going to venture a guess and say you two are in the rooms next door?" If they were the only ones STAR could really trust, they would most likely keep the three of them together. "So...meet back in the commons in about fifteen-ish minutes and we can go down the the dining area?"

"Yep. Josh is next door, I'm two doors down." STAR was very careful to get them assignments in the same hall. It was for the Avatar's safety. He tossed the key to Mella, who caught it. "By the way, no one knows Josh is the Avatar. After what happened to Sun Station, well, they just don't want a repeat." It was a matter of life and death. No one wanted anymore bloodshed. There was no record of the Avatar actually being sent to that base. All anyone would know is that three survivors from the Sun Station transferred. And that's how it would stay until other arrangements were made. But for now, only Director Tyler and those three knew about the Avatar.

"Okay, so don't ask, don't tell. Got it."

Josh nodded. "Sounds good. See you in a bit." He followed Nathan out the door. At this point, Josh was still trying to adjust to how his life would be. But it hadn't started yet. He would still be starting. Thanks to the secretive nature of STAR, his name wasn't on any record besides the folder given to Nate and Mella on the day they collected him.

"See ya." She shut the door behind the boys, before turning back to look at the uniform. STAR really liked the color black. A black jacket, black uniform-esque pants, black belt, black socks, and kick-butt-looking black combat boots. The only color was the bright blue shirt and the blue stripes on the sleeves of the jacket. Still, it was all she had at the moment.

Mella grabbed the black and blue clothes off the end of the bed and walked into the bathroom. The mirror told the tale of their journey. Her face was streaked with dust and her hair stuck up in every bizarre angle imaginable. "And they wanted me to go to get food like this...boys." she muttered.

Ten minutes later, Mella could barely recognize herself. Showers worked wonders. Her dark brown hair hung straight a good three inches above her shoulders. Mella left the bathroom and chucked her dirty clothes into a hamper in the otherwise empty closet. She yanked on the boots and left her room, after grabbing the key and her heart necklace. Mella made her way back to the commons, where she saw the boys waiting. "Ta-da."

Both guys got up. "Feel better?" Nate asked grinning. "Well, as better as you can feel after these past couple days."

Mella smiled back. "Yeah loads. Amazing what a shower will do." She followed the boys through the halls, which were eerily similar to the ones at Sun.

Everything was pretty much located in the same place. They walked through the corridors for a little bit before hitting the dining commons. "Everything's at your disposal." Nate said gesturing around the large room. Several stations with a variety of choices were around the area with tables spread throughout.

Mella's stomach growled loudly. She smelled ramen and rice cooking. "Awesome, one sec." Mella made a beeline towards the ramen place and was back a minute later with a bowl full of food and a water bottle. "Let's go sit, and you can ask away."

After the group migrated to an empty table, not an easy task in such a crowded place, they settled down. "Alright, before Mella unveils her backstory, why don't we let her eat? I imagine we should all do a bit of sharing. What about Josh? What's your story?" The agent was avoiding the awkward talking-in-between-bite conversation. First of all, Mella was already sharing something that wouldn't have been that comfortable. Second, both guys had already eaten. Well, it was more like endless plates of food being devoured. But hey, running for your life could work up an appetite.

"Sure. Uh, there's not much to tell though, really..."

Nate avoided the obligatory 'you're killing me, smalls' and facepalm combination and decided to break the ice even more. "We don't need a full autobiography, but just skim over stuff. Your family, what you do for fun~"

"Okay. Um. I'm an only child. You already met my parents. When I was growing up, my dad tried getting me into sports, but I didn't really care for it. I've never been really athletic, except for rock climbing. My uncle took me up to the mountains one time and it was the best thing ever. He slept most of the day. I had my sketch pad with me and just tried to capture the scenery. It was amazing. So calm and bursting with life. We go every year now, and it still amazes me. Until two days ago, that was the most interesting thing to happen to me."

The kid had a pretty normal life. Heck, he was as normal as it got. And Nate couldn't be any more jealous. All he'd ever wanted was a normal life. If he would have never found out about his bending, he would have been fine as long as it meant a life even close to Josh's.

Mella was scarfing her food as Josh told his story, silently thankful she didn't have to share yet. She was starting to regret what she'd told them, and she hadn't realized how hungry she had been. But a deal was a deal.

When he mentioned his sketchbook, Mella looked up. "That's cool. When we have a chance to go into town, I need to remember to get a new one. Did you bring yours with you?"

"Yeah, wouldn't leave home without it" Josh nodded. Granted, he actually had time to pack like it would be his last time at home. Mella didn't exactly have that luxury.

Mella took a drink from her water and looked at Nate. "What about you Nate? What's your story?"

Nate exhaled with a slight chuckle. "Well it is sharing time, might as well." Couldn't get around that. Not that it was a secret, but it just wasn't everyday that his past came up. But these were basically the only two people he'd ever tell again with how things were. "My mom was an agent. But when she married my dad, she took an early retirement and never told him. She died when I was little. Four or five I think. I don't remember her much. For a while it was just me and my dad. I was still really young, but I remember he would always try to make everyone laugh. I think that's what kept us both sane after what happened. Everything changed when Carlisle came to my house. He told my dad everything. About my mom, who she was, what she did. He told him that I was a bender as well. By this time, I was already asleep in bed, but they told me that he didn't take it well. My dad was anti-bending all the way. He sent me to STAR and I haven't heard from him since. STAR lost track of him. He's basically gone without a trace."

Mella felt bad for Nate. "I'm sorry…" The boys were looking at her expectantly. It was the moment she had been dreading, but it was too late now. "Alright. My turn. But you can't tell anyone. It's my story to share.

"I'm pretty sure I was born somewhere here, but I was taken when I was really little to an orphanage. I've never known my parents. All I have from them was this." Mella took off the necklace for them to see. It was silver, with a heart shaped stone that seemed to flicker different colors in the light. Mella kept talking.

"The other orphans there singled me out instantly. Either 'cuz of my eyes or my tendency to have odd things happen around me. It was just bad, no matter how you sliced it. I didn't trust anyone, and I hid from everyone, wishing I could go to the places I had read about." Mella smiled bitterly. "I guess that wish came true...

"About four months ago the couple running the place shut it down. Practically everyone had been adopted, everyone but didn't see the need to keep running it, and they had adopted the children they wanted into their own family. They gave me money and told me to start over. They left me..." Mella blinked away angry tears. She needed to finish her story. There wasn't much left...

"I started traveling this way, back towards where I thought I was born. My birth certificate didn't say much. It took me about a month, I think...I don't really remember it that much. I'm pretty sure that's when the tattoo happened. Not sure when or why though. Then I found STAR really late one night. I had been hiding out in the city from Enforcers. They had found me really early during the day, 'cause I had no clue what was going on. It was an accident that I found the Sun Station...and set off the alarms. Guards weren't too happy about that, but Carlisle called them off and they figured out I was a bender. The rest you know..." Mella fell silent, and looked down at her hands. Carlisle was the only one who had known, and now Nate and Josh knew too.

Nate and Josh both listened intently as Mella told her tale. Nathan looked to be mulling it over in his head still and remained silent. Josh was the first to speak up. "Wow. I'm sorry. For both of you. I must seem so selfish complaining about what happened when you guys have been through so much." he said quietly. At least he grew up in a home with his own parents.

Mella smiled weakly. "You aren't selfish, Josh. You're just trying to hang on to what you've known for so long. You're actually really selfless. You gave up your family for a bunch of strangers." Josh was barely older than her and he had gone through more than her, more than a lonely upbringing and strange STAR experience. Josh just sort of nodded awkwardly. He still felt terrible for the way he acted.

"It's alright, man. Really. I've moved a few times. It can be hard sometimes. But there are always going to be people you know that would have your back. When I came to STAR, I lived with my aunt and uncle. They were basically parents to me. My cousin Cameron and I are like brothers." Even if he didn't know how they were doing. He hadn't heard anything about what happened to any of them. "When we lived in Maryland for a while, I remember dreading it. That's where we met the Tylers. Back when Director Tyler was still Jack."


	9. 8 Fear

**Author's Note: Also be sure to check out the tumblr page for this story. Link on my profile page.**

Mella was still trying to figure out who they were talking about. This had been at least the fifth time "Director Tyler" had been brought up, and it still made no sense to her.

"Quick question, Nate. I don't mean to interrupt or anything. Who are you talking about when you say "Director Tyler?" I'm still kinda out of the loop."

Nathan had the look of deep thought before he heard his name. "Director Tyler runs this base. Each base has their own director. There's no one above them. So each base runs a bit different from the other. But they're similar. Very similar. You'll be meeting him soon. He wants to meet with all three of us."

"By 'soon' do you mean now?"

"We've got a little over an hour. He wanted to make sure you were situated before we went in." Nate responded, looking at his wrist watch. His gaze returned to the table, thinking. So many things were going through his head. The ambush, everyone's stories, how everything changed so instantly. But what troubled him the most was the talk about a mole.

"Oh, alright. Hey Josh, would you mind grabbing hot chocolates for the three of us? I think I saw a place on the way in..." Mella really wanted to talk with Nate, who had that distant look in his eyes again. Josh nodded and got up. He started toward one of the food lines. One of the extremely long food lines.

As soon as Josh had left, Mella spoke up. "Nate, what's bugging you so bad?" she asked quietly.

Nate sighed. "Where do I even start? Okay, guess we'll start with the biggest problem. The Sun Station. How did they know it was there? Most new recruits have a hard time finding the base for the first few weeks. Whoever the mole is, they've been in STAR for a while. But the mission to get the Avatar had never been on file. Too risky. This person has insider information. Then there's the ambush. That motel was a spur of the moment choice. And before that, the base exploded right in front of our eyes. How could that timing be so perfect? My guess is the car. I'm stripping it today to find a tracker or something. For me to have not found it, or really for the security system to not pick it up, this person would have had to have access to the specs. That aren't around anymore and haven't been for months. Director Tyler is right though, we can't trust anybody. If that mole knew about the plan to get the Avatar, he would have to be high up there with the Director. We didn't even know about it and there were no logs."

Everything was becoming different. The system he thought he knew so well, was a mystery. And he hated it.

Mella listened as Nate vented. Nothing made sense, and her questions were echoed backed at her: how had someone found out? With information like that, only a Director or someone very close to a Director could know. Nate had just said no one was above them. Mella had another idea. It was horrible to think of it, but anything was possible.

"Nate, the specs...you said they don't exist. But what about the other two who helped out? Only someone who really knows your car could do that. I know it sounds horrible, but there's something else: who could get into your garage if you keep it locked up?" Mella remembered how Nate talked about his car on the way to get Josh what felt like ages ago. He loved his car, and Mella had the feeling if he wasn't near it, no one else would be.

Nate frowned, "I've been trying to reach the guys all morning. Still no word. But the thought did cross my mind." As much as it pained him, they were on the suspect list. No one else would know that much about the car. But he trusted those two with his life.

"Alright then, what about back at the infirmary? What else was bugging you?"

"More of a weird thing I have. When I was a kid I took a really bad fall, airbending problems, you know. I was out for a week. They didn't think I would make it. Scared me. I was thirteen." he answered, shifting slightly in his seat. There weren't many things that scared Nate, but that event scarred him.

Mella felt bad for Nate, and slightly guilty. Seeing her practically dead to the world must have made him remember. Mella hesitantly reached out and grabbed Nate's hand. "But you pulled through, and you're okay. And look, I'm fine too. I pulled through, and we're gonna figure out everything we can. You aren't the only one who's scared sometimes. I can't deal with small spaces...thank you sucky childhood. I can barely handle the elevators because of it."

"Gonna have to avoids those then." he smiled slightly, snapping himself out of the depressing mood of memories and thoughts. He looked up when he saw Mella look over his shoulder. Josh was heading back.

"Feel better?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." He didn't share that often. It was weird. But it definitely brought things to light that needed to be let out.

Josh came and sat the cups of cocoa on the table then took a seat. "So now we wait?" he asked, unaware of everything that had just happened.

"Yeah...I guess. Thanks, Josh." Mella took her mug and drank it carefully. She wasn't a fan of coffee, so hot chocolate or tea was her thing. An idea came to her. "There's a computer lab or something around here right? I think I can figure out where they were going to try to take us the other night, if they had caught us." It was an idea, and it would be something to do once they were done talking with the director. The other thing was probably figuring out how Josh was going to bend, and everything else that went with it.

"Yeah. One level down from this floor. But be careful. The servers are monitored. You know how to open a secure connection? It would have to be invisible to both ends." Nate warned. Something that important was going to need to be secure. Especially with security leaks. He picked up the neoprene cup and took a drink. He was definitely used to stronger forms of caffeine. But he would never turn down hot chocolate.

"Yeah, I can set the connection up so it'll look like nothing ever happened when I'm done. But that can wait 'til later. On to our resident newbie." Nathan nodded. He applauded Mella. Good skill to have. He was starting to see more and more reasons Carlisle put them on the case. Mella smiled and set down her cup. At least she wasn't the newbie anymore. She looked over to Josh, then she spoke to Nate. "What'll he be learning first?"

He chuckled slightly at the newbie comment. "Earthbending. Next part of the cycle" he answered with a smile.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Cycle?"

"Yeah. Okay, crash course on the Avatar cycle." Mella knew she was about to sound ridiculous, but they didn't know who might be listening."Pretend you're the Avatar. You're born as a bender: either earth, fire, air like Nate, or water like yours truly. Eventually you'll learn the other three in order of the cycle. The cycle is so you don't end up with a line of firebender avatars or any other type of bender stretching over generations, and every element shows up evenly. So, Avatar Aang was a airbender, then there was Avatar Korra, a waterbender, and whoever's next is an earthbender."

"Pretty simple, as long as you don't try to over think it." Mella looked back over at Nate. "Is it time yet?"

Nate nodded. "Yeah, just about. We can start heading over."

As they got up out of their chairs, Josh had so many more questions. "So the Avatar, he," Nate glanced at him. "or she," Josh corrected himself. "has to learn all the elements? In order?" That sounded extremely confusing and complicated. How in the world was he supposed to do that? Plus keep the fact that he was the Avatar a secret. That would be interesting.

"In order of the cycle, yeah." Mella looked over at Josh, who looked like he was waayy over thinking things. "Relax Josh. I'm sure the Avatar, whoever it will be, will be well looked after." Mella wished they could talk normally. It just didn't feel right hypothetically talking about the Avatar when Josh, the new Avatar, was right there. The mole theory had even screwed up their way of talking.

Josh understood the importance and wasn't bothered by the hypothetical talking. Though it was a bit strange,he preferred this over being attacked again. That didn't mean he was any more relaxed. They weren't the ones having to learn it all. "Yeah, I guess. But that still sounds like a lot of well, everything. How long did it take you all to get just one element down?"

"Depends what you mean. There's learning an element and being able to manipulate it in even just the most subtle ways, then there's actually getting mastery over it which can be fighting, pro bending, not to mention the tricks. Air has a couple. But water has a few more like freezing and stuff. So does Earth and Fire. Everyone learns at their own pace. I didn't start the fancy stuff until I was about 10. And I came to STAR at 6. Mella?"

"Guys, I've only been here about three months, remember? But Nate's right. Everyone learns at their own pace. I can manipulate water, and freeze it as you saw the other night. They had me starting on healing right before we came to get you, but I don't have it down yet. I haven't learned anything fancy, I just improvise." Mella didn't know why she learned things so fast. It freaked out the master benders that she could master what they taught in days. Her lessons were always changing, and she switched bending classes at least twice a week.

There was a huge difference between about three months and four years. Josh had never thought about just how long he would be doing this. It was insane. Would he be well into his thirties before he barely even had the basics of the elements? Not that he expected it to be a summer camp, but sixteen plus years of just training was a bit overwhelming.

"You okay?" Nate asked. Josh was completely flushed out. All the blood was drained from his face and he was white as a sheet.

Mella looked over at Josh. He was having a reality check, and looked like he was about to pass out. "Whoa, Josh, it's okay. Maybe you should sit a sec." Mella knew it looked strange: a trio of teens(or twenty-somethings...Mella didn't know how old Nate was) just randomly sitting in a hallway, but she didn't care.

Josh looked at Nathan with a look of 'do I have to?' Nate was actually thinking the same thing, but looking at Mella who was already sitting, he followed that lead. This was strange. Maybe that's how she rolled in other places, but in STAR, people didn't randomly sit in hallways. But he did it anyway for Josh's sake. Poor kid did look like he was gonna bite the dust if he didn't sit. The Avatar-soon-to-be-in-training started to slowly sit down, but ended up plopping onto the floor.

"Josh, listen to the girl with the freaky eyes. Don't set your standards for yourself off of what we said about our bending. We are different. You're different. You're going to be fine. Like I said before, you have us." Josh just listened to Mella speak, finding her words reassuring at best, but his mind was still reeling.

"Look, man. I know it's overwhelming, but Mella's right. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us. Even if it takes forty years," Josh winced slightly. "which it won't," Nate caught himself again. So sensitive! "You'll always have backup. Besides, with you being you," still couldn't use the 'a-word' in public, "you're pretty much hardwired to catch on."

Josh nodded. The color was still drained but he wasn't feeling faint anymore. "Thanks. Both of you." he said. He may not have like this situation very much, but at least he wasn't alone.

Mella smiled a little. At least Josh was feeling better. She stood up and held out her hands to the guys. "Alright...let's go see what the Director wants." Hopefully everyone was feeling better now.

Both guys took one of Mella's hands but used their own strength to get up. It would have been awkward to drag her down with their combined weight. Josh nodded. "Let's go." And so they started once again down the halls through numerous corridors.


	10. 9 Director Tyler

When the ragtag team of benders made their way to the Director's office, they were greeted by a man who hurriedly rushed out of the office looking rather disgruntled. He looked like he was going to cry. He pushed passed the three, shouldering Nate on the way out. "Someone's in a hurry." Nate grumbled.

Mella saw the teary-eyed man rush away. It painted an image of a foreboding man in her head. She smiled to herself. Now she was just being silly.

Josh looked concerned. "I wonder what the Director said. He seemed pretty cool when we talked to him last."

"Not sure. Let's find out." Nate replied.

When they entered, Director Taylor got up from his redwood desk and came to shake hands with the trio. "Glad you all found your way. You're all rested and fed I assume?"

The director wasn't like her overactive imagination's idea. He seemed nice, but his tone was business. "It sounds like you have something for us to do, director." Then, realizing how rude she must sound, she added, "I'm Mella Camyra, sir."

She avoided eye contact. Her eyes freaked out a lot of people, and that's not what she wanted as a first impression.

The man showed them a faint smile. "Your assumption is correct, Ms. Camyra." He walked back to his chair behind his desk. "Have a seat." he gestured to the wooden chairs in front of him. Mella sat down with the boys.

"As I'm sure you're all aware, secrecy is key to all of this. Josh is going to train here to learn Earthbending. After he has gained enough experience he will learn each element at a different base. In the meantime, Agents Price and Camyra, you will be assigned as normal."

"You aren't splitting us up, are you?" What he was describing sounded a lot like a split up. It made absolutely no sense. After everything Nate had just told them, the director's words confused her. "I mean...we get to go with Josh once it's time to move to a new base, right?"

"Unfortunately not. Trying to station all three of you at the same time would raise some brows. The delicate nature of this situation calls for your separation. You will always know where each other are, of course." the Director stated.

Nathan glanced at the other two Sun refugees. "With all due respect, sir, due to the delicate nature of the situation, I feel that Agent Camyra and myself would be most effective if we stayed with the Avatar. Wherever he goes." The airbender said this in the most calm, yet serious way possible. The look in his eye was that of someone whose mind would not be changed.

Mella nodded. "I was under the impression we were to stay together because of all this. Separating us seems counter-productive. And who would recognize us, sir? No one knows me, or the Avatar." Nate, well, Mella really didn't know much about him, besides what he had told them.

"I don't think you understand. Transferring the same three agents all at the same time to various locations would raise suspicion. Though they may not recognize you all personally, your records of transferal are available to higher-ups" the Director seemed to have put a lot of thought into this.

"Directing a base is as high as you get. Why would the other Directors have a problem with this?" Mella asked, her voice getting higher. Nate touched the back of her hand, and she shut up instantly, even though there was a lot more she wanted to say. Nate went on.

"I'm sure you can think of something. Because whether you give the okay or not, we'll be staying with the Avatar through the entire training process." Nate sat back into his seat.

"Ms. Camyra, there is more to STAR than you will know. There are others above the Directors, and they know what they are doing. And Mr. Price. I'm shocked at your behavior. Your personnel records indicate that you're a top-notch operative. You follow orders to a T and make sure your missions go accordingly." The Director was unamused.

"Your records are correct. However, you see, I follow orders up to a point. The mission comes first. If I find that a direct order comes into the way of successfully completing an assignment, I will do what it takes to make sure I succeed."

By this point the Director looked peeved. "You do realize you are committing insubordination?"

"Yes, sir."

It looked as if both were locked into an intimidation staring contest with neither willing to let up. Mella was silently fuming as well. Josh looked between the three of them. This wasn't looking good.

"Don't I get to say anything?" Josh interrupted, both men broke their locked gazes. Mella snapped out of it too.

"What is it, Josh?" Nate asked.

"I appreciate what you all are trying to do to protect the Avatar...Me...'The Mission'." he shook his head stumbling over the last part, still unsure how to address whatever it was that he had become. "But if these two are the only ones who know who I am besides yourself, I won't go without them. I can't do this alone. I'm not going with a bunch of strangers every time you think I'm ready to learn more." he said flatly.

"I understand, Mr. Drake, but I-"

"Please. Being the Avatar has to count for something, right?"

The Director sighed. A migraine had been coming on for a while. "Alright. Agents Price and Camyra will be transferred alongside the Avatar at all times. You're dismissed." He waved them out of his office.

Mella stood and nodded respectfully to the director. They had made quite an impression. She held the door open for the boys as they followed her out, and finally finished ranting once they were far enough away. Nate made sure to shut the door behind them. "That went well. I can't believe he would try to separate us! And what about the clothes issue?" She had to give the boys props, especially Josh. It took a lot of guts to stand up to someone older than you, especially a director.

"Yeah. I'll say. Hey, do you think he tried way too hard to get us apart? I mean, under normal circumstances that's well, normal. But this whole thing doesn't happen, at all." he wondered aloud. He might have been over thinking things and maybe a little paranoid after the ambush thing, but what could a person do after having to dodge tranquilizer darts. Then there was still the mole theory. "We're heading to the accounting desk. STAR's gonna foot the bill." he added to address the clothing situation.

"Yeah...maybe it's because they just want to protect Josh. But there's other ways to stay unsuspicious and still keep us together." Something was up. It didn't make sense to have the three of them together at base and then rip the trio apart as soon as Josh moved on.

"Exactly. Why wouldn't they put that into play in the first place? I don't like this." And that's when Nate starting doubting the one constant in his life: STAR. Now he was wondering exactly how many people knew of the mission. After they got back from shopping, Nate would get to work on the car, which would take a long time. He was going to need time in between working. During that time, there was definitely research to be done.

Shopping would be fun, in the fact that it was normal. When whatever equalled normalcy was far and in between, the little things were awesome.

Mella looked over at Nate. He looked like he was struggling through his own personal thoughts again. A lady at accounting gave her a shiny new card, along with the 'library card' and 'french restaurant coupon' that Nate had, the two cards that showed she was a STAR agent. She, Mella Camyra, was now official. They even had things ready for Josh. He was surprised how fast they got him into the system.

Once they finished up with the accounting desk, they started heading back through the halls, conveniently avoiding elevators. Mella was silently thankful.

As they walked away, Nate was already getting plans ready for going into town. "Alright, we can get changed then meet at the car. Probably wouldn't be best to wander around in uniform." Nate tried to sound upbeat in case of listening ears in a more crowded area now.

"Sounds good. Meet back up in five, then?" she suggested.

The boys nodded back and they split to go back to their rooms.


	11. 10 The Things You Learn at The Mall

Back in the same clothes as the previous day, the gang met up then got ready to head out. "Ready?" he asked, leading them all to the garage. Once they all loaded in, Nathan seemed to glanced around the steering console. He felt around a bit, but sat up and started the car. Mella felt a pang of pity as Nate stealthily searched for a bug. He had nothing. That bug if there was one, was going to be hard to find.

"Yeah, let's go." Mella followed the boys out to the garage, making sure to remember where they were going, seeing as she'd been knocked out when she arrived at base. She pulled back the seat so Josh could climb in and then got in herself.

Mella felt bad for Nate. STAR was practically all he ever knew, and talks of a mole and the idea that someone may have bugged his car must be making him question literally everything he had ever known.

As they left, Mella was trying to figure out what time it was, dorkily forgetting that there was a clock in the dashboard. Living in bases that were mainly underground and being asleep for days really screwed with her sense of time. "How far are we from town?"

"Not too far. It's just traffic. I'm taking us to a mall so we won't have to drive that much." Nate replied as they emerged from the mountain side. They started up the winding road into the public street. He eventually turned onto the bridge above the ocean. The freeway extended over streets, showing off the city on either side. Skyscrapers, old buildings that were practically stacked, and side by side houses mixed into the cityscape. Actually, despite the small size of the city, there was plenty to see. In the distance behind them, another city could be seen past the bridge. Eventually they exited the freeway and came into the heart of the city. The traffic Nathan had mentioned was definitely obvious. But the sights were nice. The city had so many different kinds of buildings and it all seemed to change constantly.

Mella looked out the window the entire time. This new place they were at was amazing. The ocean glittered below them and the city rose before them, houses and skyscrapers blending in to each other. She wanted to remember this, and Mella made another mental note to buy a new sketchbook. Mella smiled a little, then looked in the mirror. "You're quiet, Josh. Something bugging you or you just don't wanna talk?"

Josh looked up from the window. "Nah, I'm fine. I've just never been to a city like this before." He smiled back to reassure her. The city was so amazing it was blowing his mind. The town he was from was big, but definitely not a metropolis like this. It was beautiful. Definitely going to be making his sketchbook as well. Nathan found a parking garage and pulled into the spiral driveway. Josh watched outside as the ground got farther away with each turn. Obviously this was his first time in a large parking structure. He really didn't get out much.

Nate found a parking space and the trio exited the car. "We're just down the street from the mall. I have a feeling we're probably going to get a little separated in there." Nate looked at Mella. "We can't hover around Josh like the secret service. That would probably attract way more attention than him just being in there." He passed around his cell phone, getting everyone's number. "I already went through our phones. No bugs."

Mella had almost completely forgotten that she had a phone. She never called anyone, and she hadn't really talked to anyone in STAR. "Alright...cool. So when we're all done, just shoot a text and we can all meet up somewhere. The alibi from the other night should still work: we're cousins spending time on the coast. Sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan." Nate nodded. And so they left the parking structure to get to the streets. As they walked down the streets, Josh spoke up. "So, we're just shopping?" he asked.

"Well, if you want to live out of your backpack forever, you don't have to." Nate raised an eyebrow. Mella half-grinned at that. If anything, this shopping trip should be a relief.

"It's not that. I mean, it's just that it feels weird. So normal. I feel like we should be lock down or something." he said.

"There are definitely people who wouldn't mind that."

Mella snorted. "Yeah. One of them rhymes with "Tack Jyler." I'm surprised they let us come here, after the crap they tried to pulled." She was hacked off about that. There were plenty of ways to keep them together, but the way they handled it was absurd.

"We do have certain rights. Special circumstances or not, they can't keep us in there" Nate explained. But even he was peeved about the argument earlier. Even if they had told them they weren't able to go out, after what happened, he probably would have taken them all out anyway.

Mella was still on a roll conversation-wise. "Okay, this is going to sound really stupid: what time is it?"

Josh checked his watch, "Five after Noon." He was still in shock that they were just shopping at the mall after everything that happened.

"Awesome." Mella kept walking, now that she could start to get back to normal. They finally enter the mall.

They passed an electronics store, which was playing a repeat of the news. Mella stopped to look. "Um...guys?"

The announcer was somewhere in a studio. "In other news, a truck was found flipped over just outside of a town the other night. Enforcer officials say they were in pursuit of rogue benders when something unknown made their vehicle flip. An investigation is going on at this time."

Mella looked at the other two who had backtracked to see the news clip. "Didn't think that would happen..."

Nathan crossed his arms. "No pictures. They must not want the manhunt started yet. Don't worry about it. They won't find anything. Especially because they already know who and what they're dealing with. The Enforcers won't want a panic. That's when things become out of their control."

Mella looked at the picture one last time. "Yeah I know, but wow...didn't think that would happen." It was amazing how much damage a water bottle could do. "Let's keep going. I think that place up there is having a sale." Mella started walking again.

Like Nate had predicted, they got separated while they shopped. Mella was slightly apprehensive about that, but she assured herself that they were a text away whenever they needed to leave. Like right around now. She was done shopping, and hopefully they were too. Mella was tired, even after sleeping for the good part of a day, and was ready to go back to base. Mella juggled the three large bags she was carrying and pulled out her phone to send out a text:

{I'm done. If you're ready to leave, I'll meet you at the fro-yo shop.}

Nathan pulled the vibrating phone from his pocket. {Sure. See you there.} He texted back. It wouldn't take long to get there as he was already in the food court, waiting.

Josh replied to the text and started back to the food court they passed earlier. Carrying two good sized bags, he felt awkward. It just felt weird having so much clothing. Actually the bags were heavy. He had spent his time in two stores not wanting to shop around. When he reached the frozen yogurt place he just took a seat in the eating area close by. Nathan was chatting up the cahier. The college aged girl giggled as Nathan said something and flashed one of those grins that girls seemed to like.

Mella saw Josh sit at a table and Nate head over to the counter just as her phone buzzed. Talk about good timing. She walked up behind Nate to wait in line. _Geez, flirt much?_ The other cashier helped her out and soon she was walking back to sit with josh holding a cup of double mint chocolate chip. "Have fun?" Mella asked as she plopped down in one of the empty seats.

Josh looked up at Mella's arrival, pulled from watching Nate lean on the counter. He would say something, shrug and the girl was like putty in his hand. God he was jealous. Some guys just had it. And Josh did not. Every time he attempted anything similar of the nature, it was like watching a sad 90's comedy. "As much I could. Not much of a shopper." he chuckled slightly. "What about you?" he asked.

"Yeah. My closet won't look so pathetically empty anymore. And," Mella dug in a bag for a moment before pulling out a book. "I have a shiny new sketchbook." she said in a singsong voice. Mella found a pencil and started drawing something, trying not to laugh. She finished it and turned the book towards Josh. "Don't tell Romeo over there..." Mella said before busting out laughing.

She had drawn one of those carnival cartoons, the ones that made your head look enormous. Nate was flashing a cheesy smile that made the cashier girl go heart eyed like in all the animated shows she had seen.

"Ha, it wouldn't surprise me if he took it as a compliment." Josh laughing along. "So you do a lot of drawing?" he kept some conversation going while they waited. Nathan must have either been really bored lately, stressed to the max and needed something to keep his mind off things, or some unknown reason that could have been a STAR thing.

"Yeah. When I was at the orphanage, I hid out in the library practically everyday. I think by last year I had read most of the books they had. Some of them were about drawing, and that added with the one foster family I had, I picked it up easily enough." Mella fell silent.

She had forgotten about them. Mella flipped to the next page and started sketching the city skyline like they had seen it from the bridge. "The foster family-I don't even remember their names-were nice enough. They were artists with only one child, and they wanted him to have a sibling near his age. It didn't work out...and after a few months they gave me back."

"Wow. I'm sorry. That sounds so...lonely." he said, glancing down at the lines she drew. Actually, she was quite good. "I've been drawing since I was a kid. My grandpa said that I saw things differently than other people. He even entered me into a local art competition. He was always my biggest supporter." he said, attempted to change the subject from Mella's foster family. He would have to remember that it was a delicate subject.

"Your grandpa sounds like a really cool guy." Mella looked up. Nate was still chatting up the girl working the counter. "Five bucks says he gets her number and never calls it."

Josh snorted. "Worst five bucks I will ever spend. But uh, I'll take you up on that. Give him 'til tomorrow morning?"

Nate finally came over with a small cup of chocolate fro yo. He had a satisfied smile on his face as he picked up several shopping bags from a nearby table. "Ready?"

Mella grinned. "Deal. Hey Nate. Wow," Mella saw the number of bags he was carrying. "You did waay more shopping than both of us. I'm ready to go." Mella saw the receipt with a girl's loopy handwriting on it and hid her laugh. She flipped her sketchbook shut and grabbed her bags after throwing away her froyo cup.

"They did give us unlimited spending cash." Nate shrugged following along the others as they started walking. Nate did have a point, there was unlimited spending money. But Mella only bought what she needed, since they were going to travel a lot. She wasn't like most girls, the ones that needed a different outfit for every. Single. Day. With three for holidays. _If that's normal, I'll stay like this: freaky, purple-eyed waterbender Mella._ However, Nate was definitely the kind of guy who needed a different outfit for every single day. His closet had to be well stocked, even if they were going to be traveling. That's why he had a duffel bag. Besides, he could always have his things sent to another base when he moved. After all, he was literally starting over from scratch.

Josh had a hard time containing his laughter but managed to eventually keep a straight face. "So, how'd you get here first? You have half the mall in there." he pointed to Nate's haul.

"It's a talent." Nathan took a bite of his frozen yogurt.

"Well, it'll be easier for me to blend in now. I have a pair of colored contacts. They're bluish-grey." Mella's thoughts were elsewhere. She still wanted to see if she could find out where they might have ended up.

"Good color choice." Nate complimented. It would definitely fit in more with both boys' natural eye colors.

There was something off about Mella's tone. Something distant, like she was listening and talking, but her mind was wandering. This group seemed to do a lot of that. "Everything okay?" Josh asked.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Just when we get back to base I'm gonna work some computer magic to figure out where the trigger happy guys were going to take us..." They walked past the electronic store, which had switched from the news to a music video. Mella made a face. "This song is terrible."

"What's the plan? When you find it, what do you plan on doing?" Nathan asked. Breaking into government facilities was nothing new to the seasoned agent. But it was anything but safe. Especially for someone newer to STAR. If that is what Mella had in mind. Honestly, he still didn't know much about her. Sure they knew her backstory, but as a person, Nathan still knew little about her. After all, a person wandering on their own was a mixture of brave, lucky, and a little unwise. But sometimes necessary choices were stupid.

"I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the intel. I know i'm not going to go kamikaze and bust in there. That's insane. But if it's a new place that STAR doesn't have on the grid, then I'll report it." Mella knew that she wouldn't last a second if she did something like that. Even though she can hold her own, she didn't have the training or the experience to go on her own. "Then again...they probably then would want to know how I found it. Not sure if they know I can hack." She whispered the last word. "I know that Carlisle knew, but that's about it. I don't know if it's on my file or not." Hacking was something she had figured out while she was at the orphanage, along with the drawing skills.

The sad part was that he almost felt like telling her not to tell STAR anything. It went against every protocol out there. Any information should be reported immediately. But after what happened, it was hard to trust anyone. Even STAR. "Alright. Yeah, just as long as you don't go in alone." was what he ended up saying. After all, Nate really didn't have any solid leads on how their location was given to the Enforcers. The mole was definitely looking like a good theory, but again, no solid evidence. "Didn't know you could do that."

"How do you think I know how to set up secure connections that no one can see from either end? And why would I go alone? I'm not crazy...or suicidal for that matter."

"Fair point. But you'd be surprised at what some new recruits do when they get their ID cards." It was true. There were always those guys that thought they were invincible because they had some fancy gadgets and a badge.

They finally reached Nate's car and dumped their bags in the trunk. Mella held on to her sketchpad and a tiny bag that held a bunch of pencils and her new contacts.

After they got back to base, Mella headed back up to her room with the others and unpacked. That actually took longer than she expected, once Mella figured out that the hangers were hiding in a closet drawer for some reason. _Aren't they supposed to be on the rod? Seriously…_ The others got back to their rooms and started getting settled as well. It didn't take Josh long to get unpacked. He spent most of the night sketching in his book. He wasn't sure what kind of time he'd have in the time to come, but he had a feeling that his drawings were going to be a way to escape it all.

Mella grabbed her sketchpad and a couple pencils. Making sure she had her key, she locked up and tapped on Nate's door. Nate looked up from his own belongings when he heard a knock at the door. "Heading down to the lab, tell you what I find later."

She didn't sound like she'd have much to say so he just shouted back. "Alright. Be careful. And good luck." With that Mella took to the stairs. She still feared the elevator. It was only one floor anyways. The lab was really simple to find. She just had to listen for the hum of the servers that had to be close by.

Making a hidden little bubble in the stream of data was easy. Trying to figure out where they might have gone was harder. Mella doodled a complicated looking flower in her book as the requests went through. Some places she automatically ruled out, with them being barely a speck in the middle of nowhere, and no cities closeby. There weren't a whole lot of places that screamed 'hide me here' within 28 hours of that town. Once she finished that, she did the search that she always did, no matter where she was. And, as always, nothing came up. Mella finally looked at the time. It was getting close to midnight. _There's no way the guys are still up...I'll tell them tomorrow, or when I have a chance. _Mella shutdown the computer and headed back upstairs. She had a feeling that tomorrow she would have some sort of training, and she needed her sleep. She fell asleep, wondering what STAR would have in store for them tomorrow.


	12. 11 Six Months Later

In the intervening months, Mella became five dollars richer, Josh was put on a crazy training schedule, and Nate spent most of his spare time on his car. While they were still based in Mercury, Nate and Mella were still agents and had duties. Names were trickling in little by little as time passed but still no word of Carlisle. The trio had finally been allowed to take trips in their off time to visit Josh's parents and both Mella and Nate were eventually treated like family. They'd all gotten to know each other over time and it seemed to really keep Josh's spirits up every time they went over.

Currently everyone was at the STAR Mercury base. Nathan was working on his car as usual trying to find tampering when he finally found what he was looking for. He had completely taken out his steering wheel at this point, done with looking in surface hiding places and dug out a small disc. It was worse than he could have imagined. The tracking/monitoring device was STAR issued. Nathan immediately put the car back together and ran several different tracking algorithms through a handheld device, this time running for STAR tech instead of the Enforcer tech he had been running. After dismantling and rebuilding several areas of his beloved car, Nathan put the devices down. He didn't want to let whoever was listening in to know that he was on to this.

He had to find the others and they had to get out. However, as he was exiting the garage, he was stopped by two burly agents. They were not happy. "Agent Price. STAR has found you guilty of mutiny against our organization. You will be stripped of your ranking and taken into custody immediately." ugly number 1 told him. They knew.

Nathan air blasted both men in separate directions, leaving no way for them to be conscious after hitting opposite walls. He pulled out his phone. "Mella, grab Josh and come to the garage. Now." Little did Nate know that two guards were getting ready to ascend upon Mella with the same accusations.

Mella was just wrapping up her own training exercise when she got the call. She fought the urge to swear. She had been expecting this. More and more people recently had been coming to 'watch' her train, or bend, or whatever she happened to be doing. She had packed up most of her stuff and had it down in the garage. "Alright. I'll be there as soon as humanly possible." She looked up. Two big agents were walking her way. "Correction: I'll be there after one thing." She hung up and turned to face the men.

"Agent Camyra. STAR has found you guilty of treason. Your ranking has been taken, and you need to come with us."

_Um...how 'bout no?_ Mella knocked the two guards into each other, and willed the water to rise up and slam them against the wall, freezing them in place. Mella ran, searching for Josh. She skidded around the corner to the Earth terrain, to see some people talking to Josh.

Being pulled out of training was unusual. It was worse than being called from class. And the two men who came? All too weird. "We have direct orders to move the Avatar to a safe location." one of them said to Josh.

Josh raised an eyebrow. He thought no one was supposed to know who he was. "Where are Agents Price and Camyra? I need to see them first." he told them.

"Agents Price and Camyra have been escorted to holding cells. STAR has found them both guilty of conspiring against the organization and the Avatar." the second man spoke up.

Just then, Josh's phone vibrated. It was Nathan. {Run.} He looked up from the short text just in time to see Mella running up.

_No, no no no._ Mella had to think fast. Fortunately, there was a water fountain nearby. A sly grin appeared on Josh's face as the water snaked around the agents and forced them to the side, detaining them. They slammed into the wall and froze, just like the others. "Josh! We have to go!"

"Nice." he said, running to catch up to her. "So, conspiring against STAR? Where'd you find the time?" Josh still had this wicked grin as they ran through the training grounds.

"Does it look like I've had time for that? They've been giving me a crazy amount of training too. Let's go. Nate's waiting." Josh laughed at Mella's reaction as they sprinted through the base. He didn't actually believe them. They ran silently through the complex, not running into anyone. _Where is everybody? Did they lock the place down?_ Josh was thinking the same thing. The base was extremely empty for usually being packed. _Okay. Guess everyone decided to take their vacation times. All at once. Not._

Meanwhile, Nathan was packing all their gear into the car. Each of them had a backpack with their things plus other necessities. There was always that hunch that they were being monitored. So, they all had a stash ready just in case. Nathan was packing a large duffle bag with survival gear. He ran all the bags under his scanner to make sure nothing had been bugged. So far it looked like they'd hidden their things well.

They ran downstairs to the garage, just as a group of agents saw them. Unfortunately they did not appear to be on their side.

"Josh, tell Nate to start the car and run!" Mella yelled, before she turned to face them. _I never thought I would use their training against them…_Mella was going to face them alone.

Josh nodded and ran off to find Nate closing the trunk. "There's a group of guards. Mella's taking them on her own."

"Get in." Nate climbed in and turned the keys. The engine roared to life. Josh hopped into the back seat. Nate floored the gas pedal. The gear was set in reverse. He swerved around the corner and backed up until the rear was just a few feet behind Mella. "Stay here. We're heading out now." Nate instructed Josh as he hopped out of the driver's seat.

Mella heard a car pull up behind her. She was silently hoping it wasn't more guards. She was already tired from training, and she had taken a hard punch or two already. Thankfully, it was Nate.

Joining the fray, Nate came up to one of the men and caught an incoming swing. He twirled the agent's arm around the back and kicked him forward. "Let's finish this." Nathan looked to the girl then back to the remaining men. Using the wide forms and motions all five guys were thrown back into separate walls by a powerful wind that could only be seen because of the dust being picked up as well. Nathan kept them pinned for Mella to finish the job.

Mella froze them against the walls. "Hi...so you're a traitor too?" She asked, straightening up and wincing. Her side was hurting like nobody's business.

Nate stood up and started heading for the car again. "Yeah, well, what can I say? Not like we didn't see this coming." he got into the car.

"No...didn't see it at all." Mella said sarcastically. "But why now? Why not just say something when we got here six months ago. Would've been easier that way." Mella jumped into the car and threw on her seat belt as Nate hit the gas.

"Can't say. They were probably trying to see just how much we know. Today I found several bugs in my car. All STAR tech. Probably what set them off on us." Nate guessed taking a last spiral and emerging from the hidden driveway. They got back onto the road and began driving up the mountain.

Mella's heart fell even further. Not only did STAR call them traitors, but they were the ones that had bugged Nate's car. _How did they get into his car, if the garage is always locked?!_

"Is everyone okay?" he asked. Right now they had to get as much distance from base as possible. It wouldn't take long at all for STAR to jump on them.

"I'm fine...I think. Ask again tomorrow. Any clue as to where we're going?" If Nate and Josh didn't have any ideas, then maybe the places she had looked up months ago may come in handy. No one knew about them...because you needed to know where to look.

"As of now? As far away from here as possible." He couldn't believe he hadn't seen any STAR vehicles after them yet. They entered the bridge and joined the flow of traffic. Nate was nervously tapping on the steering wheel as they drove the speed limit. It was killing him. Then traffic started slowing and eventually stopped. "Nononononono." Nate looked ahead and sure enough a checkpoint was set up. He recognized the "officers" running it too. STAR agents. They were trapped on the bridge with no other way exiting. No wonder they didn't follow earlier. Bridges were the only way to exit the city. They were trapped. "We can't bend in public without getting caught. But we can't go through the checkpoint either. Now would be a great time for a diversion." No exits or turns. It seemed to be over.

Mella swore softly, getting a couple of weird looks from the guys. They knew it was bad if she felt the need to swear. "Okay...diversions...I probably can't do anything, the water is too far down, it'll be obvious I'm bending. Make the wind pick up and earthquake the bridge? Dunno how well that will work..." They were inching closer and closer to the checkpoint. "Worse comes to worse, ram through the checkpoint and haul butt. I don't have a whole bunch of ideas here, sorry."

Mella popped the glove compartment and pulled a bottle of water out. It had saved their butts months ago, they could see what it did now. She leaned back in her seat, trying to look normal and winced again. The agents in the garage could throw a punch. Mella didn't think they would hurt that bad. It hadn't been that bad when she was training. But this wasn't training anymore, it was real. She silently berated herself for not keeping her guard up, but they had a bigger problem right now.

Nate shrugged still looking freaked. "We want to live through this. Plus, we don't want to hurt any civilians if we can help it." Earthquakes and windstorms were out. What to do, what to do. Ramming through wasn't sounding that bad. They would just end up all over the news and then STAR wouldn't be their only problem. He would call that Plan B. "You guys might want to get down." he looked at Mella. "Think you can crawl into the back? If they stop us, you'll have the element of surprise."

Traffic was moving slow as ever, but it felt lightning fast when you were trying to come up with an escape plan. Mella nodded and carefully climbed into the back seat next to Josh, just as he came up with a plan. "I have an idea." Josh spoke up. They were about two cars from checkpoint. Nathan put on a pair of sunglasses to keep from getting noticed. "I am all ears." he was doing his best to keep a neutral face at this point.

"Just get ready to drive." Josh said, looking up from the floorboard. He sat up just enough to see the car in front of them. Just as they came to a stop, two slopes rose from the pavement and forced the car to rear end the one in front, the slopes disappeared as quickly as they came. He sat back down and waited for the Bay Area traffic to handle the rest. Ignoring the protests of the inspector, the driver of the front car got out of his vehicle and marched over the the car in front of Nathan. The two drivers started at it. Soon both were out of their cars yelling at each other. Traffic was going nuts. People started honking and people were shouting. The checkpoint had no choice but to let traffic start again to avoid more conflict. Nate didn't wait. He was out of there.

"Nice..." Nate breathed. It sounded like he'd been holding his breath through that last part.

"Alright, if we still have no ideas as to where to go for now, keep heading north. I know a place we can stop." Mella was trying to remember what places she had written down, even though they were highly unlikely to be where they would have been taken. Her mind conveniently chose that time to draw a blank."Okay correction...when you think any tails that may have picked us up are gone, stop so I can grab my sketchbook out of the back. I wrote stuff in there."

"Okay. Any idea how long its gonna take to find the place you're talking about?" He was going to need to stop to change his plates on the way. STAR would have his current ones on file. Six months ago he had a license plate made as well as identities for all three of them. Of course, he was located across the country and they wouldn't be able to get over there for a while.

"Um...a few hours, give or take. It's along this highway. There should be a hotel there, a nicer one than the one we stayed at last time we ran."

"Alright. I just have to pull over pretty soon. Once we hit city limits, changing license plates won't be the easiest." Nate was keeping an eye out for treelines or some sort of detour that would lead to a remote place where they wouldn't be seen or bothered by STAR, Enforcers, or the general public.

Mella pulled up the edge of her shirt. A bruise was starting to form. Healing with waterbending was the one thing she hadn't really gotten the hang of. Mella could do everything else, even bloodbend (but she never wanted to do that again) but healing was iffy. That was a slight issue, since they now had a huge issue with ever bigger consequences.

Nathan picked up his phone. "Cam, it's time. You too? Great. I'll keep you posted." He hung up and filled in the others."My cousin Cameron has Josh's parents. He's taking them to a safe house now." he told them. Cameron Kopps, the egotistical cousin, was filled in on everything. He was off of STAR's radar being officially one of the agents killed in action. While they were all staying at Mercury, Cameron stayed in the city where the Sun base was blown up to make sure the Drakes were safe. Even though Mella and Josh hadn't actually met Cam, Nate made sure to let them know of the situation. About two weeks after the explosion, Nate had gotten the call about identifying Cam's body. What STAR didn't know was that Cam's ID had been taken by one of the agents. Cam and Nate had been waiting for the call. Cameron had contacted Nate when he heard about the attack. By this point, Nate, Mella, and Josh already had their suspicions and the older cousin came up with the plan. Once they found the ID, Nate would give a false identification and Cam would operate under the radar. It was sad for whoever had Cam's ID, but everything was so sensitive, any leg up was needed.

Mella personally had nearly forgotten about Cameron...but maybe STAR wanted it that way. See a name on the KIA list, mourn for a few days, and then go back to normal life. It made her mad, that STAR really didn't care that much, and that they wanted to get her and Nate out of the way.

Mella looked over at Josh. She hadn't gone back to the front seat, and not moving at all sounded like a fantastic idea. "How you feeling dude?"

"Fine, I guess. On the run. Part of me was hoping we were wrong. A straight training session sounds a whole lot better than being on the run from a spy operation." he shrugged.

They kept driving for a while, still noticeably on edge. Finally, Mella saw something out the window. An underused rest area with no one in sight. "There. Next exit. I'm gonna make sure I didn't crack a rib while you change plates." She saw Josh's eyes widen. "Hey, relax. I can take a punch. I wish we were wrong too, but we can't change it now. We'll be fine."

"Still, that's like, 6 weeks for it to heal." Josh said. He had a feeling that these two were not going to be the kind for bed rest. "Yeah, but for how long?" he muttered.

Nathan took the exit and parked on the far side of the rest stop in case a fast getaway would be needed. He turned the car off and put the keys in his pocket. "Alright, stretch your legs now while you can. There's a first aid kit in the trunk, I can grab that for you. I packed some pain meds and ice packs." Nate walked around to the back while the two unloaded and took out a white bottle and some unfrozen ice packs. Josh helped Mella out of the back.

"Alright...thanks Nate. Josh and I better change too." The two of them had been training right before they had to split, so they were still in STAR A's. "Josh, if I can heal it little by little, then it'll probably be more like 3 weeks."

Mella knew it was a big 'if.' Healing just didn't come naturally to her like everything else did. She gingerly got out of the car with some help from Josh. "And we'll be fine as long as we have a little faith in ourselves. You, Johnny Raincloud, need to lighten up a smidge."

"Alright, whatever you say. Just try to take it easy." Josh leaned on the car and raised an eyebrow. "We are on the run. From both sides. Just saying."

She walked stiffly around to the back of the car where Nate had pulled out the med kit. "Just a sec." Thankfully a backpack with some of her things was near the front. Mella dug through it for a minute before pulling out her sketchbook and a change of clothes. "I'm gonna change real fast. The info is on the page with a flower on it." Mella walked across the lot to the restroom after handing Nate the book.

Nate flipped through the book trying to find the flower after Mella left. Drawings weren't half bad. Great compared to his half-deformed stick figures, which were pretty much the extent of his artistic ability. "Cute." he said sarcastically, showing Josh the caricature of him and the girl from the frozen yogurt place. Huh. He kind of forgot to call her...Too late now. Josh forced a smile down and attempted to keep a straight face. And failed. Finally Nate found a picture of the flower. And he had no idea what to do with it.

The mirror in the restroom didn't show Mella a pretty picture. _Well, if that isn't a reality check that STAR's out to get us, i don't know what is. _There was a good sized fist shaped bruise right over a rib. Poking around with some waterbending let Mella know that it was broken. "Fantastic." She took the edge off of it and changed, heading back to the guys. Her STAR uniform was bunched up in a ball in her hand. It didn't matter if it was messy looking now. She couldn't possibly wear it again after today.

Mella walked back over to the Camaro. She slid her phone into her jeans pocket, before chucking her clothes back in her bag. "Bad news, it's broken. Good news, it isn't terrible, but it's still gonna suck."

Nate whistled "Ouch. You're gonna be feeling that for a while. Why don't you just hang on to that aspirin for a while.". Broken ribs sucked. Especially because you couldn't wrap them.

Mella saw the book flipped to the flower, and Josh's expression. "I guess you found the drawing of the yogurt girl?" Josh laughed even harder as Mella spun the book towards her. "Had to hide this stuff in plain sight."

"I'm gonna get changed while you guys work this out." Josh grabbed his backpack still chuckling.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes smiling. "Har har. Now where are we going?"

Mella popped a couple of the pills. This was definitely gonna suck. "Come on, Romeo, you know it was funny. Anyways, there's some more places after this one we can go to." The stars were all places for potential enforcer holding facilities, but Mella doubted it. They weren't big enough to be practical.

"Mel, I'm still not seeing it." Nate squinted at the drawing. Where did it say any of this?

She found the star near the center and followed a line until it hit another star. "There. It's a suburban area after this city we're gonna drive through. Should only take a few hours." Mella pulled a hoodie and a pencil out of her bag. She traced the path out, starting from the star. "That's base...and that's a place I pulled out of my search." Mella straightened up, holding her book and hoodie, wincing. "Does that work for now?"

He watched as she explained the drawing. Now he could see it. Very detailed. "Nice. Seems doable." Nathan was taking off the plate and placed it to the side. He took a new one from the trunk and began screwing it into place. "We can probably stay there for a little bit but we have to meet up with Cam in Utah. He's picking up our IDs and papers for us. Or he's supposed to anyways."

"Fine by me. And again, there's more places just in case. I'm gonna go sit in the car. Keep an eye out for Josh." Mella put the aspirin back in the med kit. She wouldn't need them until they stopped for the night. She walked around to the passenger side of the car and climbed in. Her phone buzzed. Weird… Mella pulled it out of her pocket. She didn't know the number. The message was weird too: {skipping town?} "Nate? We need to leave. Change of plans. Someone knows." Out on the highway, three cars were speeding towards them.

"Sounds good. I'll work them into the route." he said as she climbed into the car. Nate sat on the edge of the trunk, waiting for Josh to come out. No sooner he sat down Mella called out her bad news. "You've got to be kidding me." he growled. How could they have found them? What did he miss? Nate mentally face palmed. "ID cards. I didn't even think about them before. We have to burn them." he said before turning to the bathroom. "Josh! Hurry up. We have to leave now!" he stressed the last word as he shouted. Nathan pulled out his wallet and took out the two fake cards and threw them to the ground. He jogged to the passenger side holding his hand out for Mella's cards. He'd do the same with hers. Mella turned her phone off and gave her cards up. They probably were tracking all of them.

Josh was just putting on his shirt when Nathan called. It wasn't his usual impatient shout, the urgency was present. They were running again. He immediately finished changing into his t-shirt and came running out, only to see Nathan pouring gasoline on the ground then trying to light them with a match. He didn't even question him, Josh climbed into the car from the driver's side, not wanting Mella to move. "What's going on?" he asked her, buckling in. At the speed Nate was moving at, it was clear they were running away.

"They were tracking us with our cards. And someone texted me. Somebody knew. Turn off your phone." They didn't know if their phones GPS could be traced. Turning them off was their safest bet.

"I should have been a firebender…" Nate muttered as the matches fizzled away before they reached the gas-soaked cards. Finally he got it and flames jumped up. Nate put his arm in front of him to shield his face and smiled. He threw the matches into the trunk, grabbed his jacket and slammed the trunk behind him. As he ran around to the front he put the leather jacket over his grease-stained t-shirt and slid into the car, starting it up then hauling out of there.

"Nate, turn off your phone. They can trace it."

Keeping one hand on the wheel, Nate reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He flipped it open still keeping his eyes glued to the road ahead of them and turned it off. They were pushing 80 at this point.

Josh turned his phone off as well. "Guys, we have company." Black SUVs were in hot pursuit and came over the slight hill into view.

"I see 'em." Nathan pushed the pedal even further. He had to make sure they wouldn't get caught by any law enforcement. But now they didn't really have a choice. Within seconds they were easily going 100 down the highway and still gaining speed. "We can't keep this up forever." Eventually they were going to reach a town or something, and the speeds they were going were not going to work.

"Do we want really really bad or just car trouble?" Mella was holding the water bottle from earlier.

"Uh, let them deal with car trouble. Just in case the press decides to pin this on rogue benders again" It wouldn't be long. Thank goodness for waterbending. So convenient. But Nate didn't let up on the speed. He needed that extra distance.

"Would that really be inaccurate at this point?" Josh was turned to the back watching the SUVs behind them.

"Alright, car trouble it is." Mella took the water from the radiators and made it leak out, until it was practically bone dry. "Okay. It should take about a mile with how fast they are going. They might want to slow down though..." Soon the SUVs were billowing smoke and steam from under the hoods, causing them to pull over. The SUVs shut down right as they should have. They would be down for a long time.

Mella turned back around. "We're good for now. They have bigger problems to worry about. Can I sleep now?" Mella knew books weren't always right, but she had seen a lot that sleep helps you heal. Probably because you didn't have to deal with any stress...but who knows. Mella didn't quite remember, but she was tired. Sleep sounded like a good idea, and it wasn't like last time with a tranquilizer.

"Yeah, I'll wake you up when we get closer."

Mella balled her hoodie up into a pillow and conked out a few minutes later.


End file.
